


Marionette

by ZEROxxx



Category: Frozen (2013), Jelsa - Fandom, Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Multiple Crossovers, Psychological Drama, Tragic Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2016-02-24
Packaged: 2018-05-09 02:21:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 41,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5521916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZEROxxx/pseuds/ZEROxxx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As Elsa Winters' bodyguard, Jack Frost is bound by his duty to serve her. What starts out as an innocent friendship grows into a passionate romance that neither of them expected. Will Jack be able to put his duties before his feelings? Can he protect her from the darker forces at play...and from himself? [JELSA] [Modern AU]</p><p>Also on FF.net</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Bodyguard

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and thank you for clicking into this fic of mine!
> 
>  
> 
> Other chapters (other than the ones with the most current update) will not contain A/Ns, but this first chapter will as I find it necessary to kind of give a background/warning for those ready to dive into this multi-chaptered Jelsa fic.
> 
>  
> 
> For one, this IS a **Jelsa fic (Jack Frost x Elsa)** , second - **it IS a Modern AU** , and third - **it IS rated M**. This is also a Romance/Tragedy/Mystery, so take heed - things are going to get dark and twisted, so if you're here for a feel good, cutesy Jelsa fic with a shallow plot, then please click out now. I intend to make you think while reading and at the same time, experience a multitude of feelings for these characters.
> 
>  
> 
> However, if you do like psychological thrillers, action, Jack being a badass bodyguard, with a Jelsa romance that goes deeper than just "liking each other", then please -  
> feel free to continue reading!
> 
>  
> 
> This fic is also on FFN and by the same author!
> 
>  
> 
> Enjoy the moment.

The young girl giggled blissfully as she rolled around in the snow, unaware of the damage she was doing to her delicately sewn cotton dress.

"Young Mistress, please stop that! You'll ruin your clothes!"

Popping her head out from the pile of snow, she giggled happily again when she saw the maid running over to her. "You have to catch me first!" she squealed delightedly, jumping around and creating flurries of snow behind her as she ran with wild abandon.

Exasperated, the middle-aged maid pleaded with the girl to stop. "Your mother and father will get very angry if they see your ruined dress!"

The blond haired girl spun on her toes, her thin braid flying out behind her, and she did a little graceful dance as she continued to evade the maid's clutches. Finally, they both stopped when they heard a voice calling out the young girl's name.

"Elsa? Darling?"

Her blue eyes immediately widened, a playful light sparking within them. "Papa!" she exclaimed, running through the snow covered courtyard of her family's mansion and into the arms of her expectant father.

He chuckled as she nuzzled his shoulder lovingly. "Elsa, you got snow all over you!"

Elsa only giggled happily in response as her father helped brush off some of the excess snow on her shoulders and head. "Isn't it great?" she asked with a toothy grin.

Agdar looked on lovingly down at his daughter and looked over at the maid, who was walking over to them with the most exasperated look in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Wendy," he mouthed under his breath, apologetically.

She shook her head, while respectfully bowing her head towards him. "There's no need to apologize, Master. My job is to take care the young mistress after all." She mustered up a weak smile, despite how tired she was from chasing Elsa around for the past half an hour. Quietly, she excused herself to go help the other maids with dinner preparations.

Upon entering the dining room, she sighed dejectedly of which the other maids took notice.

"I assume you had to take care of little Elsa?" one of them asked, laughing softly at Wendy's reaction.

"Yes," she replied, setting down the forks and knives upon the long table. "She's quite the handful, especially when she's playing outside in the snow. I swear, if you told her to sleep outside in it, she would."

One of the younger maids chimed in. "Oh, if I knew, I would have offered to switch jobs with you, Wendy," she said as she eyed the middle-aged woman guiltily.

She waved it off with a kind smile. "It's fine. Even though I've been assigned as Elsa's personal maid by Mistress Idun, I enjoy looking after her personally." Her expression turned solemn as she let her fingers linger upon the utensils. "...It's also because I can't help, but feel like I've failed her as her servant."

The other maid seemed confused as to what Wendy was referring to, when another maid stopped her dinner preparations to ask her, "oh - you were hired just a few months ago. Did no one tell you what happened to the young mistress seven years ago?"

She shook her head, while widening her brown eyes in curiosity. "What happened to her?"

"She was abducted in the middle of the night," Wendy explained somberly. "The master and mistress were in such a panic when they found out that they paid a large sum of money in order to get her back. Us servants were not told much information about the entire ordeal, but it seemed as though Elsa has no memory of the incident since the kidnappers drugged her."

"You can't blame what happened, solely on yourself, Wendy," the young maid reassured. "They sound like brazen, dangerous people. It wasn't like you could fight them off yourself."

"Hm," the middle-aged woman replied with a gentle smile. "I try not to, but after working for the Winters for almost ten years now, I feel attached to them." She tried to change the topic as the maids filed into the kitchen to start bringing out the food. "I heard Master Agdar speak about hiring a new servant - a bodyguard for the young mistress."

"A bodyguard?"

"Yes. It seems as though he had been wanting to hire one ever since the young mistress' kidnapping, but with the birth of Anna and the sudden growth of the corporation after that, Agdar hadn't had the time to do so until now."

 

* * *

 

"Mama...will Anna be okay soon?" Elsa asked worriedly as she stood by her little sister's bedside. Cradled in a swathe of blankets, the young child did not look too good. Although deep within the realms of sleep, her entire face was a pinkish red from the fever she had.

"She will, don't worry," Idun smiled down at Elsa, gently pulling her away from the bedside. "The doctor will come back tomorrow to make her all better." She led her elder daughter out of the bedroom and held her tiny hand as they walked down the hallway.

She sadly dropped her head. "I hope so...Olaf wants Anna to be better soon too."

" _Olaf_?" Idun laughed softly, "the snowman friend you two play with in the courtyard?"

Elsa's bright blue eyes seemed to twinkle excitedly at the mention of their snowman. "Mhm! He cares a lot about Anna, just like I do!"

"That's very kind of Olaf." Idun listened to her daughter's active imagination as she told her of how she and Anna had many instances where they played out the roles of princesses and pretended that Olaf was their valiant knight. "Maybe you can go tell Papa all about your stories," she coaxed Elsa as they arrived at his study. Idun remembered how her husband, Agdar, wanted to speak to Elsa about a pressing matter regarding her kidnapping. She protested against it, but he was insistent as if he was anxious.

Idun tightly held her daughter's hand and smiled down at her. She knocked on the study's door and she heard Agdar's voice on the other side.

"Come in."

She opened it up, the door slightly squeaking as she did so.

Almost immediately, Elsa sprinted into the room cheerfully. "Papa!" she exclaimed as she ran around the large study desk and hopping into her father's outstretched arms.

"Elsa, honey," Agdar said, returning the young girl's enthusiasm with a grin of his own. He captured her in a tight bear hug, eliciting a bubbly giggle from the young blond haired girl.

"Papa, stop! That tickles!" she said in between laughs.

He chuckled, noticing his wife through his peripheral vision. Agdar turned his head slightly to make eye contact with her and she rather somberly averted her eyes as she took a seat on one of the plush sofas in his study. With a soft clearing of his throat, he set Elsa back on the ground and led her over to Idun. "Is Anna doing alright?" he asked the ten year old.

She nodded enthusiastically in response. "Mhm! Mama said that the doctor's going to make her all better! I hope he does, because it's a little boring to play outside with just me and Olaf," she said, pouting as she took a seat beside her mother on the sofa.

"Olaf?" Agdar said with a gently smile, taking a seat beside his daughter. "You mean that snowman you two always build outside?"

Elsa's face instantly lit up at the mention of her irregularly shaped, snowman creation. "Yeah! He's our knight!"

"Ah, is that so?" he asked, entertained by her ever growing imagination. Agdar met gazes with his wife, who warily glanced at him, wondering when he was going to tell Elsa the important news. His lips turned into a kind smile again as he faced the young girl. "Elsa," he addressed her, "how would you like it if Papa gets you a real knight for your birthday?"

"A _real_ knight?" Her eyes went wide in wonder.

"Yes, a real one. They can help Olaf," he said with a nod, leading her onto the idea.

Elsa clapped her small hands together bashfully. Her entire face lit up in delight as she excitedly returned her father's nod. "Okay!" she responded with a brimming enthusiasm while her mother's gaze fell in a solemn silence behind her.

Her hands that were gently cupped in her lap, tightened around each other at the uneasiness she felt inside of her. Idun briefly locked gazes with Agdar, of which she quickly averted away from, showing her quiet disapproval of his decision.

 

* * *

 

The maid rushed over to the front door, the lacy hem of her dress flying about behind her wildly. She reached the door and opened it, only to let out a gasp of shock when she saw the man behind the door.

A large burly middle-aged man, standing well over six feet tall, dressed in a dark red overcoat with a luxurious fur trim, stood before her. His grayish blue eyes twinkled kindly as he stared down at the trembling maid. A kind smile wrinkled his face as he spoke with a thick Russian accent, "hello, Miss. This is the Winters' residence, yes? Agdar Winters asked for me to come over."

Still frozen to the spot with shock, the maid stiffly nodded and let the large man into the mansion.

Almost immediately after the man was invited into the warm mansion, he was greeted wholeheartedly by the person he had been called to meet with. "Nicholas!" Agdar exclaimed from the second story balcony. He rushed over to the double staircase and strode over to his friend.

"Agdar!" the man named Nicholas said with vigor. He gave a hearty laugh as the two men shared a solid handshake. "It has been awhile, hasn't it?"

"Try a year," he chuckled, "come - let's go talk more in my study."

 

* * *

 

The apples of Nicholas' cheeks plumped up as he smiled, thanking the maid that set down a cup of earl grey tea in front of him. He sipped it and sighed contently at the warm liquid going down his throat.

"I'm sorry, I know you prefer coffee with extra milk, but -"

"Ah, no," Nicholas waved his hand, setting down the hot tea on the coffee table. "It is fine, old friend. You worry too much over these small details - like always." He chortled. "So - what is with the urgency?"

Agdar's expression fell as he slowly turned his back against him. He somberly looked out the window, his gaze practically empty as he spoke. "I'm afraid that I've caused something that has gotten out of my control."

Nicholas set his eyes into a hard gaze at his friend. "...What did you do, my friend?"

"I'm afraid that my daughter's kidnapping was only the beginning," he muttered, "they won't stop until they have everything."

"I thought you said took care of it, Agdar," the bearded man inquired suspiciously.

"I thought the same," he replied, "but I'm afraid the threat towards us hasn't gone away. After the kidnapping, my corporation has grown immensely, but at the same time the threat towards my family has grown as well."

"Agdar…"

"You have to understand, Nicholas. I'm eternally grateful for your services in helping to get my daughter back when she was kidnapped, but I'm afraid I'll need to request your services once more."

The Russian man frowned slightly, as if looking at him with disapproval. "I'm afraid none of us can help you if you want to hire us to kill. We are bodyguards, Agdar, not mercenaries or assassins for hire."

"I am aware," the dirty blond haired man replied with a smile. "I'm sorry, Nicholas, I should have worded it better, but I am not asking for that kind of help. I'm asking if you have someone available as a bodyguard for my daughter, Elsa."

Nicholas paused in thought, stroking his wispy graying beard as he did so. "I do have a few - "

" - They need to be young," Agdar cut in, earning him a confused look from his friend. He elaborated, "I'm not comfortable with a grown man watching over my daughter. Not to mention, I would like for them to be a playmate for her at the same time - preferably someone her age. I don't want her to know that they're here as a bodyguard."

"A playmate -" he softly contemplated. "We do have a young boy - almost fourteen, but he is not ready yet."

"What do you mean?"

"Our organization, The Guardians, we strive for the best. That is what our boss, Manny Lunanoff requires of us. This boy that I have...he is not ready yet. He still has much to learn."

"That doesn't matter," Agdar insisted. "Surely he is capable of some duties?"

Nicholas let out a cross between a scoff and a snort. "Of course. He is capable enough to take down men twice as large as him. He is as good as any other bodyguard you can get your daughter, but he just isn't up to our standards yet."

Despite Nicholas' explanations, Agdar insisted that he give this boy a chance. "He can receive training with you on the weekends when Elsa doesn't go out for school. As for his education, I will pay for all of it. He will receive nothing, but the finest."

"Are you sure about this, Agdar?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "It is strange that you're so set on this decision. Why do you want this boy so badly?"

"For my daughter's sake, Nicholas," the caring father sighed, looking out the window and down at the courtyard his study overlooked. He saw Elsa playing in the snow again, building up her Olaf snowman so carefreely that it caused a bitter smile to cross Agdar's face. "Yes...for her sake...nothing more."

 

* * *

 

 

Elsa saw him briefly when they entered her father's study, as she was on her way to her room. She wondered if she had saw a ghost or if her eyes were playing tricks, but she could have sworn that she saw a boy with stark white hair and looking like the very deity of winter - with pale skin and crystal blue eyes. She had never seen a more beautiful boy, so delicate looking, and she secretly waited around the corner, down the hall, occasionally peering out to see if they were ever going to come out.

She just wanted another look at him out of curiosity. She attended a co-ed private school and although the uniform was orderly, it sadly did not affect any of the boys with their behaviors. They had greasy hair, some already going through the effects of puberty with equally greasy skin. They picked their nose, spat on the ground, and acted like a bunch of baboons - teasing and making fun of all the girls and making it a mission to pull at a girl's braided hair every morning.

"I'll go get her -"

Elsa heard the sound of her father's voice from his study, snapping her out of her thoughts. She quickly popped out from behind the corner just as he called out her name. "Papa?" she asked. approaching him.

"Oh! Elsa," Agdar knelt down, grasping his daughter's narrow shoulders. He smiled brightly and asked, "remember I said I would get you a knight? Well - " Standing up, he moved out of her line of vision so that she could look into the study herself.

There he was - the beautiful boy she had seen earlier. He was pale skinned with equally pale hair, but his dark eyebrows and striking eyes made him stand out in his otherwise - docile appearance.

She shyly glanced up at the large, burly man who stood behind the white haired boy, hesitant on what she should do. Elsa, still awe-struck with the boy's appearance, wondered if she was living within a fairy tale as he smiled at her. He had a gorgeous smile, revealing his perfectly white teeth, and equally gorgeous set of ice blue eyes that creased as an angelic smile illuminated his face.

They were roughly the same height, with him barely an inch taller than her, Elsa noted. She flinched a little when she saw him hold out his hand towards her. Her mind went into a blank and she suddenly forgot how to even shake hands. Her nerves got the best of her and she absolutely hated it.

"My name's Jack Frost. What's yours?" he asked in such a gentlemanly voice for a young boy that it nearly melted her legs into a smooth jelly.

"El - Elsa," she shyly responded back, taking his hand.

"Pleased to meet you, Elsa," he smiled charmingly again, causing her to blush. Elsa felt her heart fluttering inside of her chest whenever he spoke. He sounded like a prince in the animated movies she and Anna loved to watch on the weekends.

With this, Elsa thought it was safe to say that she was the main character in the story, the princess with a charming knight-prince that would protect her. Realizing this, she put up her regal, _"princess-like"_ persona, like whenever she and Anna pretended to be princesses. She straighten up her posture and smiled gracefully.

"I'm pleased to you meet you too, Jack."

 


	2. Olaf's Bravery

Elsa gently patted the body of the snowman she was making. She pouted her lip when she couldn’t get its head the shape she wanted it to be, so she yanked off her light teal colored mittens and proceeded to touch and mold the cold snow with her bare hands. Despite her pale hands turning a raw red from the cold, it didn’t bother her in the slightest. She relished the feeling of the snow after all.

Jack quietly observed the young girl working on the oddly shaped snowman. The fourteen year old furrowed his brow, wondering why the head of the snowman was more oval in shape than traditional snowmen. He said nothing to Elsa, however, letting her finish her work.

"There!" she exclaimed, proudly placing her hands on her waist and puffing out her chest at her achievement. "It's Olaf!"

"Your friend, right?"

She nodded her head. "He protects me and Anna!"

Jack remembered what Agdar told him - about Elsa's overactive imagination. He seemed to be nervous while he was telling Jack this, as if it was something weird or abnormal, but the young boy thought it was better than being dull, boring. He liked that as soon as Elsa dragged him out to play in the courtyard, she managed to immerse him in a wild fantasy tale of princesses and brave knights.

"Me and Anna are princesses!" Elsa stated, smiling broadly as she patted down Olaf's snow body.  
"And Olaf is our knight! Papa said you're here as our knight too, so you can be second-in-command!"

Starting to get pulled into this make believe scenario, Jack asked with a level of skepticism, "and why am I second-in-command?" He noted how when Elsa stated this fact, she did not bother to pause or hesitate to think about it - it was just automatic and it bugged him. Was he inadequate in some way?

Elsa sensed his agitated tone of voice and she quickly explained, "Olaf was here longer than you!" When she saw from his facial expression that he was not quite satisfied with that answer, she added in, "you can become stronger than Olaf, don't worry! You'll be first-in-command in no time!" She grinned sheepishly, hoping it would appease him.

Jack raised an eyebrow skeptically, but he eventually loosened up and went along with it. He laughed as he picked himself up so that he was kneeling on the snow. "Fine, I guess that's fair." His hands casually bunched up a bit of snow, while Elsa’s attention was diverted to made sure Olaf looked perfect. A little mischievous grin worked its way across his face as he molded a snowball in his hands.

"Hey, Elsa - think fast!"

She turned around and was hit in the face with a flurry of snow. Elsa glared at him, annoyed, as chunks of snow slowly slid off her face, melting with her body heat.

It had been several days since Elsa was introduced to Jack. She learned that he was going to live with them, in one of the spare bedrooms beside hers. The platinum blond got excited with the news, thinking that Jack was going to be a servant that she could finally become friends with. She did not really understand all of it, but she happily accepted him. Aside from her long-distance friend, Rapunzel, Elsa had no one else she could call a friend, seeing as how she wasn’t a social butterfly like her little sister, Anna. Despite this, Elsa held onto the hope that she and Jack could become best friends.

He was the first boy that she actually enjoyed talking to and aside from the initial nervousness, she quickly grew comfortable around him. Playful and talkative, there was never a dull moment with him. Of course, Elsa quickly realized the downside of such behavior as it quickly evolved from innocent playfulness to crude mischievousness. He would pull pranks on her whenever she least expected it and although harmless, they served to annoy the young blond to no end.

Elsa bent down, making a snowball of her own and chased the teenager around the courtyard. "Jackson Frost!" she used his full name whenever she got angry, as Jack noticed, "don't you know that hurt!?" She hurled the snowball at him and hit him squarely in the back, although it did not seem like it did anything to affect him.

Jack laughed it off, turning around and hurling a snowball back at her. "I thought the cold didn't bother you, Ice Queen!” he taunted, giving her a devilish smirk.

She fumed, scrunching up her nose and glaring at him. Elsa angrily grumbled under her breath as she made a huge snowball that she had to carry with both hands. "I'll show him," she said under her breath as he simply watched her from just a foot away - relaxed and not even worried that the huge chunk of snow was more than capable of hitting him. This annoyed Elsa even more - the way that he was so haughty and full of himself.

Elsa ran forth, attempting to throw the huge snowball, but she lost her footing. With the stepping stones slick with a thin layer of ice, she quickly found herself falling to the ground, about to land face first against the cold stone blocks. She braced herself for the impact, but it never came. Instead, she found herself in the safety of Jack's arms.

He had dove in to save her at the nick of time, allowing for her to be graciously embraced by the softness and warmth of his body. "That was close," he breathed out a sigh of relief, apparently unaffected by the rough landing he sustained, "are you okay?"

Then again, it was times like these that got Elsa to tolerate him. Even after all the pranks he pulled and the teasing, he would always be there to make it better. If she ended up crying, he would be there to comfort her - telling her over and over again that he was sorry until she stopped. Despite his mischievous nature, Elsa knew that he had a kind heart with the way he was genuinely worried whenever she got hurt because of his harmless pranks.

Elsa nodded, clutching the dark blue fabric of his hoodie and blushing slightly from the embarrassing slip.

They got up, Jack helping her brush off any loose snow that stuck to her warm knit sweater. "There we go," he said, trying to get the last of it off. As he turned her around towards him, he cried out in surprise when he received a face full of snow.

Elsa cackled, holding her stomach, as she watched the snow slide off of Jack's face. "Gotcha!" she exclaimed, proud at herself for a successful sneak attack. "I picked up some snow while I was getting up. Pretty good, huh?" Her victory was short-lived when she realized that Jack was gathering up some snow in his hands, chuckling.

"Nice one, Ice Queen, but no one sneaks up on me and gets away with it!"

Elsa dodged the incoming snowball and blew a fat raspberry at him. “You’re gonna have to be faster than that, Jack!”

\- - -

"Elsa! You're soaking wet!" Idun scolded, "were you playing outside this whole time? You know that you need to get your supplementary assignments done for the tutor tomorrow!"

Sensing that her mother was angry with her, Elsa nervously shuffled her feet on the polished marble floors. "S - Sorry, Mama. I -"

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Winters," Jack said, quickly coming to Elsa's aid, "she stayed out because I made her. Elsa wanted to come in earlier."

"Jack..." Elsa whispered under her breath, surprised that he was willing to take all the blame.

Idun stared at Jack for a bit, unsure of what to say next. She relaxed her shoulders and let out a soft sigh after a short pause. "You two..."

A maid came over to them, bringing over two dry towels. Idun took them both and draped it over the children’s heads. She smiled a little, unable to get mad when they both seemed apologetic for their innocent mistake.

"I know you both love the snow...and how much you two like playing with each other. But do it in moderation -" she warned.

Jack sneezed, blushing immediately when Idun laughed softly at him.

"And not so much that you're at the point of getting sick." She turned her attention back to Elsa. "Now, you young lady - you are going to go take a nice hot bath and go to sleep. We don't need you getting sick too when Anna's just about to recover. Jack, could you please take her up to her room? Don't let her wander."

“Yes, ma’am,” he dutifully complied. As he walked alongside Elsa,  Jack sneezed again, causing her to  burst out into laughter. He blushed hotly and mumbled under his breath, "it's not that funny."

"Is the cold bothering you, Jack?" Elsa replied, teasing him as she snickered.

"No way," he flatly answered back. The white haired boy glanced over at her and noticed that she was not even shivering, despite the fact that her clothes and hair were matted down with melted snow. Even her skin was still pale with no signs of red irritation from the chilly temperatures. "You really are an ice queen..." he muttered.

"Huh?" Elsa gave him a scrutinizing glare. "Is that supposed to be an insult?"

He shrugged languidly. "What? Do you think it's an insult?"

"I - I don't know!" she spluttered out, accusingly. "You're always teasing me so-!"

"Not always."

"You do!"

Her annoyance spiked when she saw him rolling his pale blue eyes. How could someone be tolerable one minute, then teeth grindingly irritating the next? Arriving at her room, Elsa yanked open the bedroom door and blew a raspberry at the young boy. "You stupid, big dummy!" she spouted off, trying to compile the worst words she knew in her limited insult vocabulary.

She slammed the door in his face and Jack stood there, mouth agape at what just happened.

At first it was just a soft snicker, then a chuckle, then it grew into a full-blown laugh. Jack felt awful, knowing that Elsa was angry with him, but he could not help it. He thought that was the most adorable thing ever - little Elsa trying to insult him with words that would be used on a playground. Jack rested his hand on her door and knelt down so that he could speak through the keyhole.

"I'm sorry, Elsa!" he said in between snickers. He knew he had to apologize, but at the same time he had a hard time controlling his laughter.

"Go away!" she shouted back.

"I mean it!"

"Then stop laughing!"

"I -" Jack stifled a laugh, miserably failing. From inside, he heard Elsa kicking the door, wordlessly telling him to leave. When that didn’t work, she resorted to yelling at him.

"Stupid Jack!"

Deciding that he could try to apologize to her in the morning, Jack chuckled, leaving her door. "Goodnight Elsa!" he shouted back, receiving only silence in response. He let out a soft sigh, smiling, knowing that she was still angry.

Her bedroom door opened up slightly before he could get too far, the hinges squeaking as she did so. He turned back around and saw the blond poking her head out, avoiding his eyes.

"Goodnight..." she mumbled out shyly before closing the door.

\- - - 

Agdar let the tip of his pen glide across the smooth paper as he signed off his name on a document. He set it off to the side and picked up another paper, reviewing it silently. There was a soft knock on the door that grabbed his attention and he answered, "come in."

Idun entered the study, quietly closing the door behind her. She seemed worried, prompting him to walk over to her.

"Honey, what's wrong?" her husband asked, taking her cold hands in his.

"I don't know, Agdar..." she sighed wistfully. “Elsa and Jack just came back from playing together outside and…” Her gaze fell dramatically. “They’re leading such normal lives now, but it won’t be long before Elsa knows the truth as to why Jack’s actually here.”

“Honey - “

“This isn’t the life I wanted to give to our daughters. Constantly living in fear all the time - we still have no idea who kidnapped Elsa and the fact that you hired Jack a few days ago as her bodyguard just tells me that it’s only going to get worse.” She worriedly narrowed her eyes at her husband. _“Isn’t it_?”

Agdar silently looked away from his wife, unable to answer her truthfully at the time. “I’m doing my best to fix things. I promise,” he simply muttered, hoping to calm her down. He looked back at the young woman and gently cupped her smooth cheek, rubbing his thumb just underneath her eye.

Her soft brown eyes avoided his as she seemed unaffected by his touch. “I know,” she murmured softly. “...You _always_ do.” For a brief second, Idun regretted the small bit of contempt that was present in her voice, but when she was taken into her husband’s arms, in a loving gesture, she relaxed into him.

The dark blond haired man held the small body of his wife against him and he inconspicuously let the corner of his lips fall into a dark grimace.

  
“The people that did this to us will get what they _deserve_.”

\- - -

"Oh, Jack!"

The white haired teen was immediately smothered by Toothiana's tight hug as soon as he stepped out of the elevator. For a woman of short stature, she had a lot of strength. He laughed nervously, hiding his discomfort from being squeezed that tightly, but he appreciated the warm welcome she provided him.

From behind, he could hear Nicholas North's trademark, booming laughter. "See? They all missed you!"

"What?" Toothiana momentarily let go of the young boy to look up at the lumbering man. The young woman’s eyes went wide, the pink color contacts she wore on a daily basis, shimmering prettily. "He thought we wouldn't miss him?"

"Well...some of you guys anyways." Jack raised an eyebrow, smiling as he looked over to Bunnymund, who gave him an eye roll back. The tall, lanky man walked up to him, the soles of his tan cowboy boots clicking on the smooth metal floors. He wore a frown on his face.

"Now listen here, mate," Bunnymund said pointedly. "Just because I'm not squeezing the life out of you like Tooth is, doesn't mean that I don't care about you. Look -" He pointed back to Sandy, who was excitedly approaching them. "Sandy isn't hugging you either."

"Yeah, but at least Sandy _actually_ looks happy to see me," the teen replied, laughing as he greeted the short, blond haired man with fluent sign language. Sandy excitedly signed something back to Jack, who smirked and signed something back, while glancing at Bunnymund.

The Australian man narrowed his eyes at the sight of their silent back and forth. "Alright Jacky, in case you didn't know, talking crap about someone in a different language doesn't exactly work when the person you're talking crap about, knows what you’re talkin’ about."

The silver haired youth responded back teasingly, "maybe you were _supposed_ to know what we're talking about."

Bunnymund scrunched up his nose in irritation. “Little brat,” he muttered under his breath.

Jack snickered at the dark gray haired man’s reluctance to admit that he missed him. "You do care. I know you do."

"Whatever, you bloody show pony."

"Now, now," North said, breaking up the small tirade before it dragged on any longer. "I brought Jack here to get his tattoo done. It will not be too long."

"About time," Bunnymund chimed in, "the damn alarm goes off every single time you bring him to HQ. Had to disable it because Manny kept nagging me about the loud noise."

"Well, now you don’t have to worry about the alarm,” Jack smiled, somewhat excited to get the tattoo, despite the pain. The tattoo itself was embedded with dozens of microchips inside the ink and it served as a passkey into the Guardians’ HQ, as well as functioning as a tracker. Aside from the technical functions, the thing that made Jack excited the most was that it would make him feel like he was officially a part of the Guardians - a part of his adoptive family.

“We don’t have to worry about the alarm,” North said with a light chuckle, “and, we don’t have to worry so much about you. Since you will get tattoo, we can finally give you your weapon. Sandy and I worked very hard on it.” He wagged his finger at the youth. “Don’t let our efforts go to waste.”

\- - -

"You got a tattoo, Jack!?"

Elsa looked horrified as she continued to stare at the dark black snowflake shaped tattoo located on the young boy's left pectoral. The skin around the tattoo was an angry red, as Jack rubbed on a salve to disinfect and help the healing process.

"It's not that bad -"

"It is!" she wailed, "Jack's turning into a delinquent! You're going to be one of those mean thugs!"

"What?" Jack said incredulously before breaking into a laugh. He did not really need an answer when he saw that she was close to tears, genuinely worried that he was going to degrade into society's lowest. Seeing this, Jack could not help, but let out a soft laugh.

"It's not funny, Jack-!"

He set down the small container of salve on the side of the sink, laughing too much to be able to properly put on the medication. "Elsa," he snickered, "I'm not going to be a delinquent."

"But - !"

"If you're worried about me becoming a _‘bad guy,’_ you don’t have to worry. Even if I do, I’ll still be your knight, Princess Elsa." He smiled at her, bowing in a grand manner and causing the young girl to blush.

"That's not the point!" she retorted sharply, stomping her foot down on the tiled floors. Elsa felt her face heat up more when he continued to laugh. She was not quite sure if she felt embarrassed or angry with him. Unable to decipher her own moods and just feeling downright frustrated with him, Elsa stormed out of the bathroom, screaming, "boys are so stupid!"

Despite her angry outburst, Jack found it adorable and he laughed, much to Elsa's displeasure.

She growled, stopping halfway and then running back into the bathroom. "Stop laughing!"

He attempted to stifle his laughter, but failed, as he always did.

Her temper flared once more. "I hate you!"

"Aw, but I love you!" he replied back, teasingly.

Elsa felt her face heat up almost immediately. She tightened her lips in a straight line and wanted to say something back, but she wordlessly left, afraid that if she said anything, it would only make him laugh even more. As she ran away, Elsa felt her heart thumping away inside of her chest.

It was strange of how Jack's words affected her, even though she had heard such words from Anna and her parents many times. When he said those words, it made her heart race and her face heat up. She tightly squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head vigorously, attempting to rid herself of the thoughts surfacing in her mind.

Elsa concluded that it was just puppy love and in time, it would disappear. Jack was nearly four years older than her and she was sure that he only saw her as a little sister. The thought disappointed her to some degree, but she realized that she too, enjoyed a friendship with Jack more so than the idea of sharing romantic feelings with him.

She triumphantly placed her small hands on her hips, happy that she was able to effectively squash the romantic feelings she was starting to develop for the young teenager. With a smug smile, Elsa declared to no one in particular as she stood there by herself in the long hallway, “boys have cooties anyway.”

And she was sure that Jack had _plenty of them_.

\- - -

It was a special occasion. For once, the Winters were heading out together as a family, in celebration of Anna getting over her sickness. With her younger sister fully recovered, Elsa excited discussed the mini outing with her. Their parents suggested that they take them to the outdoor shopping area in downtown Arendelle. Even with the bustling city still covered in a thick blanket of snow, they thought it would be a nice change in setting for the young girls, who had been cooped up inside the estate for much of their winter vacation.

Elsa happily played with the soft, rippling ruffles of her knee-length, light blue dress, as she idly watched Wendy fix up Anna’s hair. Her little sister was practically bouncing up and down in her chair, despite their maid’s pleas to keep still. “Are there going to be a lot of people there, Elsa?” she asked innocently, her azure eyes widening at her older sister’s answer.

“Mhm! Mama and Papa said so! They said there’s also a lot of lights, and decorations, and - _oh!_ \- toy stores that sell dolls this big!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms out wide.

When the young red head’s eyes practically popped out of her skull in amazement, she clapped her hands together, laughing giddily at the same time. “I can’t wait!” she cheered, just as Wendy finished pinning her bangs away from her face with a beautiful green flower clip.

Almost immediately afterwards, the two sisters darted out of the bedroom, only to run into Jack, who had come by to check up on them. Upon their near collision, Elsa sourly glared at him, but Anna immediately threw her arms around his slender waist.

“Jack!” she exclaimed, burying her round face into his stomach and causing the teen to laugh. Ever since Anna found out that Jack was going to be living with them, she was enthralled by the idea and quickly grew to liking him. Elsa enjoyed the fact that her little sister and Jack were on good terms, however, what she didn’t enjoy was that Jack treated her differently compared to Anna. Towards her, he would act like the gentleman Elsa thought he was initially, but towards Elsa herself, he would always laugh at her or tease her or pull immature pranks. That irritated the blonde to no end.

 _‘It’s only a matter of time,’_ she thought to herself sourly as she reminded herself that it had only been a day since Anna had become acquainted with Jack. She had no doubts that sooner or later, he would show his true colors towards Anna as well.

Jack seemed to take notice of Elsa’s grimace aimed towards him and he simply smiled handsomely at her, further irritating the young girl. “What’s wrong, _Ice Queen_?” he asked innocently, causing Elsa to deepen her frown.

Of course - how could she forget the _‘endearing’_ nickname that he had given her after just a few days of playing in the snow together? Elsa knew that he was probably just joking that one time, but when she gave off the reaction that it annoyed her, he persisted and now she was in danger of having the nickname stick with her for life. Instead of giving him a reaction this time, she simply turned up her nose and ignored him, walking away wordlessly.

“Elsa, wait up!” Anna quickly unlatched herself from the young boy and ran to catch up to her older sister. She hobbled on her small feet and rather ungracefully grabbed at Elsa’s hand, but she instantly smiled broadly when the blond returned the gesture by taking her little sister’s hand in a tight grip.

Jack smiled as he followed the two girls back to the entrance hall, stifling down a chuckle when he saw Elsa shooting him deathly glares from over her shoulder. He could definitely see how protective she was of Anna and how much Anna, in turn, admired her sister. He also felt some sort of admiration at how responsible Elsa was when it came to playing the role of being the big sister. Since he arrived at the Winters’ household just a week ago, he had only really seen one side of her, the side that loved whimsically playing in the snow and getting annoyed over his jokes.

However, this was a new side of her that he was seeing and Jack found himself further intrigued with the young girl he was assigned to protect.

\- - -

 _Chaotic_ \- was the only word that Jack could use to describe the scene of the shopping district in downtown Arendelle. Although he was there, along with two of the other household servants, ready to help carry anything the Winters bought or to simply keep an eye on the two excited young girls, Jack nervously darted his blue eyes over to Agdar, silently questioning him to see if this really was the best idea for a family outing. It was so easy to lose someone in these crowds, much more, a child.

Before Jack could vocally say anything to him, Agdar spoke first. “Jack, how about you walk behind us? Help keep an eye on Elsa and Anna should they wander off or get lost.”

“Of course, sir.”

Obediently, Jack followed the family closely through the packed crowds. He kept an eye on Elsa and Anna, who walked before him, excitedly taking in the sights and sounds as they held on tightly to their parents’ hands.

“Mama,” Anna called out, holding onto Idun’s lithe hand. “Can we go to the toy store?”

“Sure, honey.”

The further they got into the center of the shopping district, the more it made sense as to why the crowds were in such disarray. There was a sales event going on, with nearly every store participating. Jack could see people carrying out bags upon bags filled with merchandise and goods, practically fighting each other for the great deals. He wrinkled his brow, wondering why the Winters would choose such a day to take their daughters out when they were normally so protectively guarded inside the estate.

“Jack…”

When he returned his attention back to the front at the sound of Elsa’s frightened voice, he widened his eyes at the realization that they were completely cut off from the rest of the family. “What happened?” he asked her as she clung onto the sleeve of his dark blue parka.

“I - I don’t know!” she stammered, desperately looking all around, trying to locate her family. “One minute I was holding onto Papa’s hand and the next, I couldn’t hold on anymore and people walked in between us.”

“Okay,” Jack breathed out, holding her close. “It’s okay, don’t panic,” he said in an attempt to soothe her. He held her head against his shoulder and smiled. “We’ll find them. At least you’re not alone?”

Elsa nodded, still frightened by the sudden turn of events. It was the first time in her life that she was in such a crowded place. She felt anxious and fearful at the foreign surroundings, so she held onto Jack tightly, hoping not to lose him too as they navigated through the crowds. It was tough. Neither were tall enough to look over the heads of the adults that surrounded them and they were forced to go where the sea of people took them. However, once they found a small clearing off to the side, they stopped and Jack took the time to assess the situation.

As he took a look at the directory posted up on a nearby wall, he noticed out of the corner of his eye, a strange movement. With an eagle-like sharpness, Jack turned his head and furrowed his brow at the sight of a man eyeing the two of them oddly. He had on a dark gray beanie with a matching beat-up hooded jacket, hardly someone you would find shopping in an upscale area like where they were. Sensing that something was off, Jack gently took Elsa’s mittened hand and led her away into the opposite direction.

“Jack…?” she questioned him, before the two came face to face with another suspicious man. He had on a trench coat and was slightly better dressed than the other man, who was beginning to come up behind them.

Thinking on his feet, Jack tightly gripped the blonde’s hand and told her, “don’t let go,” before darting back into the crowds. When he heard one of the men shouting at the other, ‘get them!,’ he knew that Elsa was definitely being targeted. Adrenaline filled his veins as he fought through the crowds, ignoring the curses several adults threw at him for bumping into them. All Jack could think about was to get Elsa to safety.

“Jack!” she called out after him. Elsa knew that they needed to escape from the strangers, but she had no idea where Jack was leading her. It felt like the opposite direction of where her parents had gone towards and that worried her greatly. “Let’s go find my parents!” she urged him, only for it to fall on deaf ears.

The teen rounded a corner and slipped into a small alleyway in between two shops. The space was small and when he looked back, sure enough, he had lost the men, but he knew that they had to keep moving for they could still be under pursuit. As soon as Jack led Elsa out of the alleyway and into the back loading dock area of the stores, he went over to a large dumpster and instructed her to stay there, hidden.

Elsa had confusion written all over her face as she tried to question him. “Jack, why are we running from those men? Were they going to hurt us?”

“Just - stay here, Ice Queen.” He smiled, kneeling down in front of her as he gently seated her upon the cold concrete.

“But Jack - !” Elsa immediately stopped talking and drew in a sharp breath out of fear when she heard the low voices of the men in the loading dock area. The two remained absolutely still as they listened.

“Damn it! Where’d they go?”

“Find them! They couldn’t have gotten far!”

Jack let out a smooth exhale and took hold of the young heiress’ shoulders. “Stay here, Elsa. Okay? No matter what happens, _stay here_ ,” he told her, a silent plea present in his icy blue eyes.

She swallowed harshly and nodded, fear gripping her heart. “O - Okay,” she squeaked out.

He smiled, rubbing the top of her head. “Olaf and I will protect you,” he said, hoping to soothe her with the mention of her imaginary snowman knight and playing this off as if it was one of their make-believe scenarios. Jack gave her a quick wink and left the hiding spot, leaving her all alone.

Elsa’s bottom lips trembled slightly as she clapped her hands over her small ears, hoping not to hear anything. She promptly squeezed her eyes shut and whispered softly in a trembling voice, “Olaf...I’m _scared_.”

\- - -

Jack stood before the two gaunt men. They hardly seemed to pose a threat, but he kept his guard up anyways, wondering just what their true intentions were for pursuing him and Elsa. Before Jack could say anything in question, the taller of the two spoke first.

“You must be the kid bodyguard for Elsa Winters.”

He frowned at the word ‘kid’ being thrown at him. Sure he was a bit shorter than some of the other fourteen year olds around, but that hardly warranted such language. “What exactly is your business with Elsa?” he questioned them with a sharp tongue. What unnerved Jack upon further realization was that they referred to him as a ‘bodyguard.’ Although Agdar, Idun, and a few of the Winters’ trusted servants knew of his position, Jack was assured that it would be kept secret, not only just for Elsa, but for anyone that wished to target her.

He was her secret trump card and the fact that these seemingly ordinary thugs knew of it was highly suspicious. Jack reached around back, releasing a handheld, metal rod from the holster around his belt. With a sharp flick of his wrist, the rod extended to its full length, revealing its true form as a six foot staff. A confident grin spread itself across his face at the very thought of being able to test out the specialized weapon the Guardians presented to him the day he got his tattoo.

While the men ignored his question, they took notice of his smirk, and it irked then greatly. “Hey, kid. You better wipe that grin off your face. Just because you got a little stick to protect you, doesn’t guarantee that you’ll get out of this without a scratch.”

Jack let out a humorless chuckle, mocking them. “Oh, I intend to,” he answered them.

The shorter of the two rushed forth towards Jack, letting his anger get the better of him, and launching a premature attack out of a foolish impulse. He could not even land a proper punch on the young boy, as he was suddenly met with a sharp jab to his chest. A choked gag left his throat, but Jack didn’t let it stop there.

He delivered a sidekick right to the man’s stomach, pushing him back. Jack turned on his heel, hoping to land a reverse roundhouse to finish him off, but was stopped when he spotted the second assailant making his move. He stopped midway and forcibly had to use his staff to block the incoming man. Jack warded them away, despite his smaller stature, and managed to somersault backwards to put some distance between them and him.

“You can’t take both of us on, kid. Why don’t you just quietly give up Elsa Winters and we’ll let you go without any trouble,” the one wearing the beanie sneered.

“Yeah, I could do that,” Jack languidly replied with a lazy shrug, “but then I wouldn't be doing my job as a bodyguard, would I?” His expression turned serious and cold as he asked them, “...how do you guys know I’m acting as her bodyguard? That knowledge is limited to those that are close to the Winters and you two don’t look like ones that would associate with such a high class family.”

“That isn’t something you should be troubling yourself with, kid. We have our sources,” the taller man said to him haughtily.

Seeing as how they weren’t backing down or willing to answer his questions properly, he decided that the best thing to do was to do what he could to protect Elsa. Jack widened his stance, tightly gripping his staff as he focused in on the men before him. He readied himself, circling the two men as they followed his movements. They waited for the other to attack first, but after a few tense seconds, Jack unleashed the first strike.

He lunged forward and swung his staff at the mens’ feet, hoping to knock them off balance. When they managed to dodge that with ease, they failed to realize that the attack was only a distraction and way for them to be on a weak footing for when Jack swept the floor with his leg, knocking them off balance and sending them both stumbling backwards. He wasted no time and jabbed at one of them with his staff, nailing him directly in the diaphragm and causing him to fall over onto the ground, coughing violently.

Before the other one could regain his footing, Jack firmly planted one end of the metal staff into the concrete ground and vaulted himself backwards, kicking the shorter man squarely in the chest with his entire weight. The man fell to the ground, hitting the back of his head roughly on the brittle concrete. While he didn’t knock him out cold, Jack knew that it he would be unable to get up anytime soon.

Jack raised his head and saw the other assailant ready to kick him while he was vulnerable. However, the young teen was faster and he quickly managed to block the attack aimed at his head with his staff. As soon as the man’s foot made contact with the metal weapon, Jack spun it halfway and jabbed the end of it into his abdomen, briefly stunning him to give the young boy an opening to land the final strike.

He kneed the man, hard, in the stomach, causing him to kneel over in pain. Jack then swiftly brought his arm down on the base of the man’s neck, effectively knocking him out.

With both of the mysterious assailants disabled, Jack let out a sigh of relief, then smirked at his handiwork. He thought he did good for his first, unassisted fight. Jack spun his staff in the counterclockwise direction, bringing it back to its smaller rod form, and reholstered it to his waist. As he straightened out his clothes, he heard the men groaning in pain, slowly regaining consciousness.

Jack laughed amusedly. “Wait ‘til Bunnymund hears about this,” he said, knowing that the cynical Australian had very little faith in his ability to fight.

He quickly left, knowing that the men won’t stay lying on the floor for long and that Elsa must be frightened as she waited for him by herself. The teen ran over to the hiding place behind the dumpster where he had left the young girl and breathed a little sigh of relief when he saw that she had remained there, almost perfectly still. At the sound of his footsteps, Jack saw her sharply raise her head up to see him.

Startled, she asked him, “J - Jack...are the bad men g - gone?”

He nodded in response, smiling gently at the blonde. “Yup, Olaf scared them off so bad that they just ran away.”

The young girl’s face instantly brightened up at the mention of her beloved imaginary snowman friend. “I knew it!” she cheered, standing up.

“Yeah,” Jack said with a light chuckle, taking her hand to lead her back towards the main street. “It’s no wonder that he’s first-in-command. He’s very brave.”

Elsa blinked, staring at the white haired teen for a while before breaking into a graceful grin. “Well...you helped him, right?”

“You could say that.”

Elsa blushed a little, turning away from him as she spoke. “I - I guess you can be first-in-command soon. Olaf’s planning to retire...so someone will need to take his place.”

Jack simply laughed, amused with the conversation he was having with her. He was glad that she wasn’t so scared anymore over what happened. “What made you decide that I’m worthy enough to take Olaf’s place, Princess Elsa?” he asked, playing along with her imagination.

The young girl gently squeezed his cold hand. She glanced up to look at him briefly before answering his question in a soft murmur.

“Because you’re just as brave as he is.”

 


	3. A Knight's Love

"This isn't funny, Jack."

"I think it is."

Elsa felt the area underneath her eye twitch as she glared at him, which he deflected with a sugary sweet smile that dripped of feigned innocence. He had decided to play a prank on her - again. This time holding her dear polar bear plush that she fondly named, Olaf, hostage.

"Where is it?" she questioned him sharply.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Miss."

"Jack..." she growled. He was testing her patience. "I need it to study for my exam tomorrow!"

"You really believe that, that plushie will give you good luck?" he snickered.

"Yes! I know it does! I can't study without it! Jack, I'm going to fail my test tomorrow, seriously. It's the exam for early acceptance into Burgess University and I need to do well on it!"

When all Jack did was shrug, Elsa let out a frustrated huff and stormed over to him. She stared up at him, directly into his eyes with her trademark icy cold glare. "Out," she ordered.

"What?"

"Get out of my room!" she shouted, grabbing him by the shoulders, turning him around, and pushing him with all her might towards her door.

He resisted, planting his feet down firmly onto the hardwood floors. "You don't need to shove!"

"And you don't need to act like an asshole!" she retaliated, grunting as she tried her best to push him - but that was easier said than done.

Had this been four years earlier, it would have been a simple task since they were nearly the same in terms of height and body type. However, as Elsa stopped growing so rapidly, Jack began changing physically thanks to puberty hitting him like a train. He stood at a towering 6’1 now, compared to her mere 5’6 in height. His shoulders grew broader, his only lanky arms and legs developed smooth muscles, a now prominent Adam’s apple was visible on his neck, bouncing every time he spoke in his deeper pitched voice.

She hated it because he looked like the nineteen year old young man he was, but still behaved like the fourteen year old boy she had first met.

"Okay fine!" he said, sighing as he turned around to face her. "I _did_ take your doll."

"I knew it - !"

" - But I hid it and I forgot where."

" - Jack!"

"Hey, I'm doing you a favor!” he told her as he crossed his arms over his chest. “You need to learn to gain some confidence in yourself. An ugly polar bear doll isn't going to make you magically ace your test."

"It's _not_ ugly, it's just comforting to have, and ‘it’ has a name! It's Olaf!"

Jack rolled his blue eyes at her, in disbelief that he was even having an argument over a stuffed animal doll that he honestly thought was ugly. He knew that he was doing her a huge favor by removing the need to rely on it. "You'll get him back - _after_ your test."

Elsa let out a frustrated cry. "You're horrible! I'm going to fail my test and it'll be _your_ fault!"

He watched her walk away from him and towards the large, arched window of her bedroom. She stood there in complete silence, looking outside at the gray skies. Jack started to move in to apologize, but froze at the sound of her sniffling back tears.

She was crying and he could feel his heart sink a little.

"Elsa?" he asked quietly. He went up to her cautiously. "Elsa?" he repeated her name with the feeling of a rising guilt causing him to bite and release his lower lip nervously.

"...What?" she muttered, keeping her face turned away from him.

"I'm sorry," he offered up, to which she scoffed at.

"You always say that Jack."

"Yeah...but I mean it - _every_ single time." He kept his eyes on the back of her head, wondering if she was even going to accept his apology. This was the first time he had ever seen her so upset over a prank he pulled and he had pulled worse pranks in the past, and to those she would yell at him, but she would never actually cry.

When the silence deepened between them, Jack let out a soft sigh and elected to seat himself down on her bed. He stared at the young girl and gently patted the bed beside him.

“Wanna talk about it?”

"I don't want to," she answered, her voice breaking slightly.

"I know something's bothering you," he implored cautiously, "and I know it's not one of your _monthly_ mood swings again..."

Elsa turned and shot him a dirty glare. Her eyes were already puffy and red with tears, evidence that she was crying. "Jack, please." Despite her chaotic mood, she still managed to roll her eyes at what he said. "Just for once, I'd like you to leave the puberty jokes out of this."

"Sorry," he muttered apologetically. "I'm here to listen if you want." He offered her up a little smile, trying to show that he was genuine in his intentions.

She stared at him for a while, warily, but released her anger towards him as it was obvious that he was trying to make amends. Jack never wanted to intentionally hurt her anyways - Elsa knew that.

He scooted over slightly to give her ample room to sit down next to him. Jack smiled, wiping away her loose tears with the soft pad of his thumb. "I know you wouldn't get this upset over something like this, especially when I've done worse pranks."

"Like what?" she sniffled.

He chuckled, as if revisiting the fond memory. "You don't remember the one time I slipped a beetle down the back of your dress?"

Elsa glared at him, turning away while mumbling, "immature jerk. You _know_ I hate bugs."

“I didn’t know,” he said in his defense. "You didn't cry then, so why now?"

She felt reluctant to tell him, but she knew that he would not stop asking her even if she avoided the question. "I..." she began slowly, "I just need to pass this exam because early admittance into Burgess would mean that I could take my college courses during my high school year. It would save so much time and I want to help father out with the corporation as early as I can.” She dropped her head. “...I just...don’t want to let him down.”

"Why do you think you'll be letting him down?”

She kneaded her hands in her lap, nervously. “Just because,” she mumbled. The seconds ticked away before Elsa finally answered him in full. With a sigh, she began, “Papa told me that he plans to let me inherit the company in full a few years after I graduate. I guess he wants to retire early to spend more time with Mama.”

“Uh huh,” Jack said thoughtfully.

“But - it’s just...overwhelming, to say the least. I don’t want to ruin the corporation that has been built up for more than five decades. Papa’s is putting so much trust in me and I want to do my best to please him.” Elsa dropped her head and slumped her shoulders in disappoint with herself. She sniffled, wiping away a loose tear that built up on the corner of her eye. “I know it must be silly to rely on a stupid doll as a good luck charm, but I feel like I need luck right now to pull through because I certainly don’t feel like I could get by on my own skills.”

Jack knitted his eyebrows together in confusion. “ _Seriously_?” he asked incredulously.

She turned her head to look at him. “Jack,” she said flatly, “Burgess U. is one of the toughest schools to get into and I’m trying to get in on early acceptance.”

The silver haired teen laughed, causing her to blush in embarrassment.

“I hardly think this is a laughing matter, Jack.”

“I know, I know,” he said, “but you’re being way too hard on yourself. If an _‘immature jerk’_ like me could get in, I have full confidence that you could too.”  
  
When she didn’t seem sold on what he said, Jack pulled his lips over to one side uneasily. After a brief silence, he eventually took hold of her slender hand with a newfound light dancing in his eyes. “How about I take you somewhere?” he suggested.

She widened her eyes slightly in curiosity. “H - Huh? Where?”

 

* * *

 

"Why did you bring me here, Jack? You know my father's going to scold you for taking me out of the house without his permission," Elsa said derisively as Jack parked the car in the snow-covered parking lot of Burgess University.

"Can you relax?" he said exasperatedly. He chuckled when he saw her eyes narrowed at him into a sharp gaze. "It'll only be a minute. Don't worry. As for the reason I brought you here, well, maybe it’ll help bring things into perspective.”

The young girl watched as he turned off the ignition and got out of the car. She sat there, sharply clearing her throat behind pursed lips, before stepping out as well. She was still skeptical as to why Jack brought her to her dream school, but she followed him anyways, curiosity getting the better of her.

The university was closed for winter break. With the entire campus empty, except for a few people here and there, jogging or taking a brisk walk, it provided Elsa the opportunity to take a leisurely look around the expansive campus. As she followed Jack through the snow covered walkways, she noticed that they were slowly making their way towards the clock tower in the center of the university.

Its internal bell began ringing lowly when they finally came to a stop at the base of it. Jack let out a light sigh as he tilted his head back to look at the large clock tower. He waited until the bells stopped before speaking.

“Did you know…” he started softly, “that this clock tower’s dedicated to someone?”

Elsa wrinkled her brow as she came up next to him. “To who?” she asked curiously.

Jack shrugged his shoulders. “Dunno,” he said, prompting the young girl to give him a deadpanned glare. The silver haired teen glanced over at her and chuckled. “By name anyway, but I do know that it was a man that dearly loved his wife and children.”

“Is that why you brought me all the way out here?” she asked skeptically.

“Kinda,” he answered, walking over to one of the benches. He brushed off some of the snow and took a seat on the cold wood. With a gentle smile playing upon his face, Jack told her, “thought this would be a better place to talk to you about this, rather than inside that stuffy house.”

She saw him patting the empty spot next to him on the bench. As she walked over, she gave him an impatient look, wishing that he’d get straight to the point as to why he dragged her out here in the first place. Her frown deepened upon seeing Jack bend over to scoop some of the fluffy white snow into his bare hands. He formed it into a perfect ball and set it back down onto the ground.

“Jack…” she said warningly, making her agitation clear. “You know I need to spend my time studying - “

“ - We haven’t made a snowman in a while, have we?” he asked, cutting into her sentence.

At first, she was taken aback by the question, but she quickly set her blue eyes into a sharp, no-nonsense glare. “You know I don’t have time nowadays to play.”

“You should make time.” Jack flashed her a toothy grin, despite her mounting annoyance. He returned his attention to the snowballs he made and stacked them up in threes. “Everyone needs downtime,” he told her, “even if you are an heiress for a huge corporation.”

Elsa lowered her tired eyes to the snow covered ground. She tightly clenched her fists over her knees as she told him, “I don’t have time for stupid games, Jack,” in reiteration. “What don’t you understand about that?”

He slowly patted the snowball in his hand, dropping his gaze somberly. “...Of course I understand,” he muttered, “but what good will you be if you work yourself to the point of exhaustion?”

“And what do you know about _‘work’_?” Elsa heard herself turn spiteful, but did nothing to stop it. “All _you_ do is pull pranks and think everything’s a joke.

Jack remained silent, causing Elsa to feel the slightest bit of guilt for suddenly blowing up on him.

“I wasn’t always like this,” he mused, breaking the silence. The corner of his lips turned up into a contemplative smile. “Believe it or not, I was a quiet, withdrawn kid to the point where people thought I was mute.”

Even though she was surprised to hear this fact, Elsa rolled her eyes a little and told him, “I find that hard to believe.” She would soon come to regret her dry remark at what he said afterwards.

“I guess so,” he said with a light chuckle, “maybe it was more because none of the kids at the orphanage wanted anything to do with me. So naturally, I had no one to talk to.”

She thought she felt her heart stop inside of her chest. “ _Orphanage_?” she repeated softly in concern.

He nodded and looked at her in confusion before realization dawned on him. “Ah, this is the first time I’m telling you about this, right?” Jack placed the snowball he held onto the ground and gathered up some more fresh, powdered snow. “...Apparently I was dropped off at the orphanage when I was a baby. They don’t know who left me there, but I was wrapped in a nice, warm blanket along with a single slip of paper that had my name written on it. My caretakers thought that whoever dropped me off at least cared about me enough to make sure I was in good hands and that I knew my name.”

Elsa heard him let out a dry, humorless chuckle and she turned away from him. “...I’m sorry, Jack. I had no idea.” This was the first time he had ever spoken to her about his life before meeting her. Never in her wildest dreams, would she have guessed that Jack was actually an orphan. She just assumed that Nicholas was either his grandfather or his father.

Jack took notice of how uneasy the news made her and he quickly attempted to remedy the situation by handing her the snowball he had in his hand. She jumped at the sudden cold contact, but made sure not to ruin his work. He kept his eyes on the snowball as he spoke. “It’s fine,” he told her, “it’s not something that bothers me anymore.”

“But it _did_ bother you...at some point.”

“It _did_ bother me,” Jack repeated quietly, releasing a soft cloud of warm vapor from his mouth as he sighed. “I never knew why I was in that orphanage until I was about age 3. That was when I knew that I was there because I had no one I could call “mom” or “dad.” At such a young age, when you realize that you’ve been left all alone in this world by the people that are never supposed to leave you - _it hurts._ ”

Elsa could only imagine such a scenario. She nervously kneaded her hands together in her lap. The question still remained in her head, however. “I’m sorry again, Jack, but what does this have to do with me? You haven’t told me anything about your life before we met. Why now of all times?”

Jack smiled at her briefly, before pulling the thick, white knit scarf over his cold lips and nose, shielding it from the icy cold air. “Because I was like you - working tirelessly to try and please people, to be accepted and loved. I did it during my time at the orphanage and I kept doing it out of habit even when Nicholas and his friends adopted me. ...Even when I didn’t have to.”

He turned to the platinum blond and gently held her hands in his own, as she held onto the snowball he had given her. Elsa felt her cheeks heat up slightly at the intimate gesture as she was face-to-face with the handsome, silver haired man. “J - Jack?” she stuttered.

“Nicholas and everyone else loved me even if I wasn’t the best. I was so afraid of being abandoned and being left alone again, that I overdid it. I tried too hard to excel and become a _‘perfect’_ child that everyone wanted. But I realized...that even if I wasn’t the best, Nicholas and everyone else would have loved me all the same.” Jack peered up at the young girl sitting next to him. “You too.”

“Huh?”

“Your parents will love you no matter what, Elsa. Your father will love you, your mother will love you, Anna will love you...no matter what,” he repeated, gently squeezing her hands. His gaze seemed to fall sullenly, causing Elsa to wrinkle her brow at him. However, before she could ask him anything, Jack’s expression quickly brightened up. He looked her in the eyes and smiled. “I love you too.”

She widened her sapphire blue eyes at him in shock and embarrassment. A hot flare of heat rushed up to her pale face, lighting it up in different hues of red as she stammered out loudly, “wh - what are you saying!?” Elsa took back her hands from his grip in such a sharp motion that the snowball she held, fell to the ground and broke apart upon impact.

He seemed to take what she said with a grain of salt, as he simply laughed her behavior off, feigning obliviousness. Jack let go of her hands and bent down to scoop up the broken snowball. “I just care about you,” he elaborated, clearing up the misunderstanding for her.

Elsa’s shoulders relaxed a bit, but her heart remained restless. She felt the heat of embarrassment wash over her once more, but this time, only in response to her own overreaction. “R - Right,” she stammered. “That’s what you meant.”

Jack quirked an eyebrow up slyly and asked with a lopsided grin, “do you like me, Ice Queen?”

Her face grew red again and she quickly stood up onto her feet. “Of course not! Who would!?” Elsa immediately bit back her tongue, knowing that her statement could be taken in the wrong way. “J - Just...you know...I like you the same way. ...I care about you too,” she admitted in a begrudging mumble. “N - Not in that...romantic way or anything! Definitely not!”

Jack laughed, gradually intensifying in volume and strength to the point where he was practically holding his stomach.

Elsa stood there, staring at him with the blush on her face growing darker in response. She tightly clenched her fists and snapped out, “what’s so funny!?”

The young man managed to stifle down his laughter in an instant. As he wiped away a loose tear from his eye, he told her, “you don’t have to deny it so adamantly.” He chuckled again as he stood up from the bench.

No sooner did she find herself trapped in his tight, but warm embrace. Elsa widened her eyes as she nervously stuttered incoherent words in response to his sudden intimate gesture.

“...You are loved, Elsa,” Jack told her softly, immediately changing the tone of their conversation. He smiled into her hair as he rested his hand against the back of her head. “Don’t do things just to please others, because no matter what happens, the people that love you will always love you.”

Elsa dropped her gaze as she snuggled into his arms. She rested her forehead against his broad shoulder, feeling the cool chill of the nylon fabric of his parka against her skin as he held her. Her heart hammered away at her chest and she hoped that Jack wouldn’t hear or feel it.

“That’s why,” he said as he pulled away from her slightly to get a look at her eyes. He gave her an endearing smile and continued, “you shouldn’t stress yourself out over this exam. No matter what the outcome... your father will love you all the same.”

She saw him reach into the pocket of his parka and pull out her small polar bear plush that he had taken from her previously. Elsa’s eyes widened slightly as he held it out to her. “Jack…”

“All you need to do is to do your best...and believe in yourself more.” He chuckled as he handed her the doll. “You don’t need to rely on this doll - in my opinion anyways. You’re already smart as hell.”

“I - I don’t know about that,” she modestly replied.

Jack gave her a slightly raised eyebrow along with a smirk. “You kidding me? You’ve always been at the top of your class. If at anything, you’re a shoe-in to be accepted for early admission.”

Elsa felt a swell of pride and confidence rush through her upon hearing his words.

He let his gaze fall to the polar bear plush that was now in her hands. “Just...take it easy, okay? I’m sure Olaf here wouldn’t like to see his princess so exhausted and stressed out all the time.” Jack smiled at her as he brought his hands up to pull down the white beanie she wore on her head so that it covered her red ears. “I don’t want to see you like this either.”

She pursed her lips tightly when she felt his finger poke at her cheek. “Don’t tell me what to do, Jack,” she grumbled, hitting his hand away lightly.

Jack laughed. “It’s just a suggestion, Ice Queen. Don’t take it so seriously.”

“ _Suggestion_ …?” she asked, cocking her head slightly to the side. 

“ - you look better when you smile.”

It felt as if the ever constant blush upon Elsa’s cheeks wouldn’t disappear any time soon; not with Jack constantly telling her such heartwarming words that tugged at her heartstrings. Whether he knew it or not, Elsa wasn’t sure, but she did know that he was playing her like a fine tuned fiddle and surely enough, she found herself feeling ardently for him with each passing moment.

But she _certainly_ wasn’t in love with the young man.

 _Definitely not_ \- or so she kept telling herself.

 

* * *

 

“Wow! That’s awesome, Elsa!”

The platinum blond haired girl proudly held her head up high as she crossed her arms across her puffed out chest. She watched her little sister gush over her and the early acceptance letter from Burgess University. It was a feat that even Elsa was proud of, especially when she spent so many months preparing for the exam and several months afterwards driving herself nearly mad with anxiety for the test results. However, the fruits of her labor finally showed itself on this very day in the form of a parchment colored letter with the bold black words -

_Dear Elsa Winters,_

_We are happy to inform you that after careful consideration, you have been accepted into Burgess University’s early admissions program..._

As soon as she read the word ‘accepted,’ the rest of the letter felt insignificant during the euphoric rush she felt immediately afterwards. Accomplished - didn’t seem like an adequate enough word for what she was feeling currently.

“Papa’s going to be so happy!” Anna exclaimed as she excitedly bounced in her seat, despite their family’s driver’s pleas for her to calm down as he drove the girls back home. The strawberry blond quickly apologized to their middle-aged driver. “Sorry, Simon,” she said, grinning innocently at him through the rearview mirror. She quickly returned her attention to her older sister and handed the letter back to her. “Jack’s going to be happy too! He’s been tutoring you a little bit, hasn’t he?”

Elsa rolled her eyes with a slight smirk. “Emphasis on ‘little.’ The only thing I’m not better than him in is science, but that was hardly covered on the exam. Burgess knows that I’m planning to enter as a business major. I’ll probably never have to see another chemical formula in my life soon.”

Anna fell back against the car seat with a huff. “Must be nice for both you to be so smart. Jack’s good at science, you’re good at math, and both of you are great at the other subjects too. I’d kill to have an A on any of my tests right now.”

“You have your strengths too, Anna,” Elsa gently suggested.

“I guess,” the strawberry blond haired girl sighed dejectedly. She quickly picked up her mood with a smile and asked her sister, “since you’re finally free from that exam now, wanna try to convince mom and dad if we could go out this weekend - ?”

“- _Actually_ , Anna…” Elsa bit her bottom lip out of guilt. “I won’t have time. Since I’ll be taking high school courses along with the courses at Burgess soon, the headmaster wants me to use my spare weekends from now on to finish up some coursework.”

“O - Oh…” Anna’s expression fell considerably, adding onto Elsa’s guilt.

“I’m sorry,” were the only words she could offer up to her little sister. Elsa was well-aware of the fact that she barely spent any quality time with the young girl as of late. Ever since her father told her that she was to take over the family corporation someday, Elsa let her sense of duty drive her ambitions. All the time she had once spent outdoors playing in the snow were quickly taken up by her studies. Somedays, Anna would play outside by herself, and somedays Jack would make time out of his schedule to play with her, but Elsa slowly found herself unable to do so.

Before she could say anything else, the family car rolled up into the circular driveway of their large estate. As soon as Simon stopped the car and announced their arrival, Anna darted out of the car.

“Anna - !” Elsa found herself cut-off by the slamming of the car door in her face. She faltered, drawing back her lithe hand as she watched her little sister run up the front steps. Her blue eyes fell, saddened by how quickly the atmosphere changed between them.

Simon peered at the young girl through the rearview mirror and he removed his leather driving gloves slowly. “Don’t think too much of it, Elsa,” he said to her respectfully. “It can’t be helped - unfortunately. You are going to get busier as time goes on.”

“I know…” she replied with a defeated sigh.

Not wishing to meddle too far into the young girls’ affairs, Simon kept his conversation short and simply informed her of her parents. “The master and mistress told us that they would be back later tonight.”

“Yes, Papa told me that he’s attending a dinner banquet with Mama.”

“Mm,” Simon grunted softly as he pushed open the car door. With a fond chuckle, he said, “I do hope Master Agdar doesn’t drink tonight. He was insistent on driving himself and the mistress to the banquet, even though I insisted that I can drive. You know how he can’t even handle the simplest of wines.”

Elsa giggled into her hand. She recalled the memory of how her father had passed out after just a glass of wine during their weekend family dinners. “That’s true,” she responded, getting out of the car as well. “But I’m sure Papa can handle himself tonight, even if he is drinking.”

“You sound so sure of yourself, Elsa,” he lightheartedly commented.

She let out a sheepish laugh. “Well, despite what happened with Anna just now, I think today’s a good day,” she commented as she held onto her acceptance letter confidently.

 

* * *

At first, Elsa thought she was hearing things. When she sat herself up in her bed, heavy in a groggy daze, she thought she was dreaming, but when the muted, distant voices didn’t stop even as she blinked away the sleep from her eyes, she realized that they were real. Groggily, she looked over at the digital clock on her nightstand and saw that it was nearly 3 in the morning. She wrinkled her brow, wondering who could possibly still be up at this hour. 

Perhaps it were her parents.

The fifteen year old hopped out of her bed and crept towards her bedroom door. She did her best to open it quietly and poke her head out into the dark hallway. The voices sounded like they were coming from the entrance hall.

“Mama? Papa?” she called out softly, rubbing her eyes as she approached the entrance hall. As she got closer, she could hear Wendy, her maid, crying softly as well as the foreign voices of a man and woman. Thinking that it was strange, Elsa picked up her pace.

As soon as she arrived at the banister, she stopped when she saw Wendy, along with Jack, standing in the entrance hall along with two adults that were dressed like detectives. With wide, curious eyes, Elsa stared at them, trying to make sense of it all until one of the detectives noticed her standing at the balcony.

“Is she their daughter?” the female detective asked, pointing at her with a bob of her head.

She saw Jack turning around to face her and Elsa quietly walked over to the double staircase. She kept her hand flush against the glossy wooden banister. “Jack?” she asked quietly as she made her way down the stairs.

He remained silent as he approached her, an obvious look of distress on his face. “Elsa,” he breathed out cautiously.

“What’s going on?” she asked, her eyes flickering over from him, to Wendy, then to the detectives. “Why are they here? Where’s Mama? And Papa…?”

“Mistress…” Wendy’s voice cracked as she tried to hide her tears.

Her breathing grew uneven as the seconds ticked on by. Elsa continuously bounced her gaze between everyone present and finally she felt the feeling of dread consume her. “Why isn’t anyone saying anything!?” The silence was far too deafening.

Even the detectives remained silent, unable to deliver the heartbreaking news to the young girl. They averted their gaze, as did Jack.

“ _Why_ are they here, Jack!?” Elsa shouted, grabbing at his arm. He looked incredibly tired as well as he nervously glanced at her.

“Elsa…” he said, wrapping his arms around her tightly. With the strain of difficulty, he whispered out, “your parents...they - “

 

* * *

 

Elsa stared glumly at the two gravestones in front of her, both belonging to her deceased mother and father. Upon the sleek, black marble, were their names - _Agdar and Idun Winters_ \- etched in with white letters. The funeral service was long over, with many of their family friends having left already. Those that stayed behind were herself, Anna, Jack, and some of the household servants which included Wendy and Simon. Kai, Agdar’s friend and current vice-president of Winters Financials, also stayed behind to look after the two girls.

They stood off to the side, while Elsa and Anna took the time to give a final goodbye to their parents - in private.

A light rain began to fall upon the earth, but it seemed like neither girls cared too much about it ruining their makeup and clothes. They were far too riddled with grief and worry to care about something as minuscule as that.

Anna fell to her knees in front of her parents’ graves, crying loudly as her hot tears fell to the grass below. Elsa stood off to the side, hugging herself as she focused her attention on her younger sister. She had no idea on how to comfort her in times like this. Anna was always volatile when it came to her emotions, unlike Elsa.

“Anna…” she gently whispered out, kneeling down cautiously beside the young girl. She touched her shoulder. “Let’s go home...all the other guests left and it’s starting to rain -”

The strawberry blond snapped her head around to face her sister. Her eyes were widened in enraged disbelief at what Elsa suggested. “These are our parents, Elsa!” she heaved out, “how could you lump us in with the ‘other guests?’ Just because they left, doesn’t mean that we should leave them either!”

“Anna, you’ll catch a cold if you stay out here all night,” Elsa said in a firmer tone.

“Do you think I _care_!?” she yelled, drawing the attention of Jack, who stood nearby. Anna quickly stood up, hitting Elsa’s arms away from her body. With a flaring, irrational anger, fueled only by her own grief, the younger sister stood over the older, glaring at her. Finally, her face broke into a wry grin and a humorless laugh left her mouth. “Don’t try to act like mom just because she’s not here anymore.”

Elsa gave her an incredulous look. “I’m only looking out for you, Anna!”

“ _‘Looking out’_?” she asked with another dry laugh. “Since when!? You _barely_ even spoke to me the past few years because you were so focused on being daddy’s _‘perfect girl’_!”

“ _‘Perfect girl?_ ’ - I was studying to get into Burgess, you know that!” Elsa shot out, in complete disbelief over what Anna was trying to argue with her over. “Papa told me a few years ago that I would eventually inherit the family corporation. I did what I had to in order to prepare!”

“Well you didn’t have to if you don’t want to! You could have refused him!” Anna childishly fired back.

Elsa seethed, clenching and unclenching her fists. “Like I had a choice in the matter! Since I’m the eldest one and since _you_ don’t want to take responsibility for _anything,_ I had to do it!  There’s a reason why dad turned to me! So, sorry Anna for me being _‘daddy’s perfect girl’,_ but I’d rather it be like that than let everything he’s worked for fall to ruins!”

Anna, clearly taken aback by what her sister said to her, grew wide-eyed in shock. It wasn’t until a few seconds later, did Elsa realize the callousness of her words and the familiar feeling of guilt bubbling up inside of her. She suddenly wished that she could take it all back.

“Anna -”

Wordlessly, the young girl left the gravesite, leaving her sister alone. Jack made no effort to stop her. Instead, he waited, rooted to the spot as he stared at Elsa, who seemed completely shocked at what had happened. He could hear the rain getting heavier as the minutes dragged on, with the fat droplets pitter-pattering away at his umbrella.

Elsa flinched out of surprise when she felt something heavy being draped over her head. She looked towards Jack, who had taken off his jacket for her to use as a shield against the heavy rain and for warmth.

Her blue eyes looked dull and sullen, the usual light within them fading rapidly. Jack wrapped his arm around her narrow shoulders and muttered, “we should start heading back too.”

As they walked out of the private cemetery, Elsa asked him, “did...Anna already leave?”

“Yeah,” he answered lowly. “She left a while ago with Simon. I let them go on ahead,” he paused, “I thought it would be for the best...at least for now.” Jack looked on worriedly at Elsa as they sought out a temporary shelter from the rain underneath a large oak tree. He peered over to get a look at her face. “You okay?” he asked softly.

Elsa sniffled back tears, wiping away the raindrops that cascaded down her cheeks. “I’m fine,” she lied, seeing as how it was easier to do so rather than explain things to Jack. She was mentally and emotionally exhausted and all she wanted to do was go to sleep.

However, Jack didn’t seem to buy it. “You don’t look fine,” he commented, earning him an irritated glare from the young girl.

“I’m wet from the rain and I haven’t been able to get a decent night’s sleep for the past few days because of this funeral. Would you think I’d look fine, Jack?” she snapped out, annoyed. For a moment, Elsa thought that he would say something back in retaliation to her unwarranted anger towards him.

“You know that’s not what I meant, Elsa,” he said in the gentlest of tones.

The young girl furrowed her brow at his words. It bothered her - greatly.

Jack took notice of her depressive mood and attempted to console her. “...You know, Anna’s just...young,” he said softly, believing that Elsa was bothered by what happened between her and her little sister. “She probably didn’t mean what she said to you. You have to understand that she’s - both of you,” he corrected, “lost your parents.”

Elsa looked up at him, some stray strands of her blond bangs clinging to her wet skin. She felt him run his hand over the smooth plain of her cheek, wiping away any remaining rain drops.

“Make amends with her,” he said, “you two only have each other from now on. Fighting with each other isn’t going to make things easier.”

She clenched her fists tightly and asked, “what about you?”

Jack raised an eyebrow. “What about me?”

Elsa stared up at him with narrowed eyes, as if she was looking at him with a high level of scrutiny. “I have you too, don’t I?” she questioned with hostility.

“Of course -”

“- You’re lying,” she cut in bluntly, catching him off-guard and rendering him silent. Elsa pursed her lips and glared at him, feeling more annoyed with him by the minute. She gave him the time to say something - anything, but all she heard was nothing. “Why do you care so much about me, Jack?” she asked in a soft mutter.

Unsure of what she was getting at, Jack gave her a questionable, narrowed gaze. “Elsa, I don’t understand -”

“ - You’re always nice to me. You never get angry at me, no matter what I do…”

“Is that what’s bugging you then?” Jack asked, “do you want me to get angry at you?”

Elsa snapped her head up to face him as she tightly held herself. “You know what I mean!” she lashed out, “why is it…?” She fought to control herself as she searched for right words that threatened to spill out uncontrollably from her mouth if she didn’t. “Why is it that you’re the only one always by my side when even Anna chooses to leave me?” Her voice cracked under the threat of tears.

“I’m choosing to stay with you, Elsa, on my own terms - “

“ - _Liar_ ,” Elsa whispered, facing him with salty tears spilling from her round blue eyes. She stepped back, away from him, as she spoke. “I know you must only be here by my father’s orders.”

“What? Elsa, that’s not true -”

“ - Stop Jack,” she cried, avoiding his outstretched hand. Elsa left the safety of his umbrella and found herself underneath the oak tree. With its sparse leaves, it hardly provided much cover from the rain. “Please stop lying to me,” she said with a voice riddled with anguish. “I figured out you were hired on as a servant a long time ago.” She laughed dryly. “And in the beginning I naively tricked myself into thinking that you were my friend.”

A chilly wind blew through the cemetery, causing Elsa to shiver from how her hair and clothes were drenched in rainwater. She held Jack’s blazer tightly around her small body, but it didn’t help much.

“Elsa, please get out of the rain,” Jack begged, moving closer to her so that she could get underneath his umbrella. He was met with more retaliation instead.

“What are you, Jack? Why is it when everyone else leaves me, you’re the only one staying by my side? I know you must be a servant my father hired, but - but you hardly do anything the other servants do! You don’t cook, you don’t clean, you’re not a chauffeur like Simon, why are you here...? Why are you always by my side!?”

Jack tightly gripped the handle of his umbrella, unable to bring himself to answer her truthfully. “...I swore that I would keep it a secret from you, Elsa,” he finally murmured.

She wrinkled her brow and gave him an incredulous, wry laugh. “Swore it to who? My father? If you didn’t know this by now, he’s dead, Jack,” she said in such a crude manner that she saw Jack grow still from her words. Immediately, the young girl bit back her tongue and regretted speaking ill of her father in the heat of the moment.

“It’s for your own good,” he answered calmly. Jack waited to see her response and when he saw none, he let out the breath he had been holding in and muttered, “...I’m your bodyguard, Elsa.”

“Bodyguard…?” Elsa felt an ominous shiver pass through her body. “Wh - Why would I need a bodyguard? Papa said that we don’t even need a security team. We’re not that special...are we?” she asked, searching Jack’s averted eyes for an answer.

“I don’t know,” Jack conceded. “All I know is that I’ve been hired to protect you due to your father’s wishes.”

Elsa’s mind started going numb and she began hearing a slight ring in her ears, drowning out all other ambient noises. She shook her head in disbelief, astonished by what she heard. The denial was hitting her hard and she began wishing that she had never pushed Jack to tell her the truth about him. Was their entire friendship a sham? Were all the moments they spent together simply because he was ordered to do so? Did he ever feel anything for her?

“Elsa,” Jack stepped close to her out of concern. He studied her face, reflecting a ghastly bewilderment from what she just heard.

She shied away from his touch, as if he hurt her. “Ge - Get away from me,” she stuttered out with a shudder.

“You know I can’t -”

“- Well, do it anyways!” she shouted wildly, eyeing him with fear flashing in her eyes. She drew in a sharp breath in realization. “I - I can do it now, right? Fire you? Papa left me and Anna everything he owned, which includes you, s - so -”

Jack shook his head, insistently trying to get her to calm down. “There’s a very real threat against you Elsa. Agdar told me that the person that kidnapped you when you were just three, is still on the loose -”

“ - Wait a minute - _kidnapped_?” she choked out, angrily wiping away at the tears that stained her cheeks. “I was _kidnapped_!?”

He immediately regretted his choice in words, knowing that Elsa was probably well on the edge of having a mental breakdown from the emotional stress that had been building up ever since her parents’ death. “Elsa…”

“Just go, Jack,” she muttered, tightly clutching at his blazer. She let out a harsh breath. “Please...just go. I don’t want to do this anymore. I’ve been living a lie all this time and I just...don’t...want to do this anymore,” she reiterated it in between heaving sobs.

“Elsa...I just want to protect you -” Jack reached out to touch her shoulder, only to have her sharply turn away from him in response. He stood there evenly, feeling a pang of hurt in his chest from her pushing him away, but at the same time, he understood the reasons behind her actions. She was only fifteen and he had no doubt that she was handling much more than what some people don’t even experience in a single lifetime. The sound of her soft cries deafened him, sending waves of guilt that crashed into his heart.

In front of him was a scared, vulnerable little girl that was suddenly thrust into the cold reality of the world. It was cruel and Elsa didn’t deserve one bit of it.

Elsa stopped, every muscle in her body stiffening when she heard the drop of his umbrella and his strong arms wrap themselves around her cold body. “What are you…?” she breathed out, only to be cut off by him.

“- Your father may have hired me to be your bodyguard,” he interrupted with a harsh exhale, “but I chose to be your friend on my own terms.”

She swallowed away the lump in her throat as she tried to wiggle free from his clutches, but the more she moved, the tighter his embrace became. “Let go of me!” she eventually cried out, tears flowing down her cheeks. “I’m tired of all your _lies_ ! I’m tired of _everything_!” Elsa managed to free herself briefly, just enough so that she could turn around and slap him across the face, however, that did nothing to deter him.

Jack took her into his arms once more, ignoring the burning injury on his left cheek. He felt her small fists hitting his chest as she screamed into his shoulder. As her body began to quickly lose strength, Elsa fell into his comforting embrace and wept. The mere sound of her cries pained him emotionally and he squeezed his eyes shut in response, unable to say anything to her while she was in such a volatile state.

“ _Why_ …!?” was all she said - over and over again, gasping for air and crying uncontrollably as Jack held her silently.

Everything came crashing down onto her - the daunting task of her eventually taking over her father’s massive corporation, the strained relationship between her and Anna, the fact that they were going to have to live their lives completely alone, the fact that the two people that she loved so dearly were now gone from her life forever. A mixture of sadness and fear fueled her and Elsa held on tightly to Jack, the fabric of his dress shirt bunching up in her fists.

He didn’t know how long they had stood there for, but once he heard Elsa’s cries had quelled, he reopened his eyes slowly and murmured, “...your parents...Anna...they all love you very much, Elsa. Don’t _ever_ forget that.”

She let out a muffled whimper in response, keeping her face buried in his chest.

“I love you as well,” he whispered, “that’s why I’ll stay by your side, not just because your father ordered me to.”

Elsa blushed softly as she rested her head against him. Suddenly, she felt as if things weren’t as bad as she thought they would be.


	4. A Grand Gala

"Nervous?"

Elsa snapped out of her daze, quickly shaking her head. "Ah - no, Wendy.” She let out a wry chuckle. “Sorry, I just have a lot on my mind...about tonight that is."

“Understandable,” her elderly maid said with a soft laugh of her own. As she stuck a few more pins into Elsa’s delicated braided hair bun, she added on, “it’s your first debut into high society after all. Many of the guests at tonight’s gala haven’t seen you or Anna since you were children. But now -” She placed both her wrinkled hands on Elsa’s bare shoulders and looked at her through the vanity mirror out in front of them. “You’ve both grown into beautiful young women.”

Elsa blushed slightly. “Thank you,” she responded modestly.

Wendy hesitated a little before gently whispering, “you look _just_ like your mother.”

The platinum blond offered up a slight smile, but felt an all-too familiar bittersweet feeling bubbling up inside of her throat at the mere mention of her deceased parents. Elsa had tried to repress the memory of their sudden, accidental deaths for her own emotional wellness, but it was easier said than done. They were her parents after all - the very people that brought her into this world and who raised her with such diligence and care.

Before Elsa could dwell upon this thought any longer, a knock at her bedroom door snapped her out of her thoughts.

“Who is it?” Wendy called out, helping Elsa put on her diamond, tear-drop shaped earrings.

“It’s me, Jack,” the familiar voice on the other side of the door answered.

“Ah,” Wendy seemed to hesitate, darting her eyes from the door to Elsa, then back to the door.

Elsa simply laughed into her hand. “It’s fine. Let him in. I’m decent anyways.”

The maid strode over to the door and opened it up, revealing the silver haired young man. He was wearing a slim-fit, three piece suit, topped off with a black tie. Even though Jack expressed his distaste of wearing formal clothes many times in the past, he pulled off the look well.

“Sorry for the intrusion,” he said to Wendy, then flickering his eyes over to Elsa, “but Simon said that we should leave in ten minutes if we want to get there on time. There’s going to be some traffic along the way.”

“Ah, I see,” the maid responded. “We’re just about done here -”

“ - Actually, Wendy...I think I can do the rest,” Elsa said with a little smile. “Anna will probably need some additional help since she picked out such a huge dress.”

Wendy furrowed her brow skeptically. “Are you sure, Mistress?”

“I’m sure. I’m pretty much ready anyways.”

“Very well.” Wendy slightly bowed her head and exited the room. “I wish you the very best at tonight’s gala, Mistress,” she said with a kind twinkle in her brown eyes. “Your parents would have been proud.”

“Thank you.” Elsa waited until she left the room and Jack closed the door behind him. The platinum blond let out the breath she had been holding in with a giant heave of her shoulders.

Jack chuckled as he approached her. “No pressure, right?”

She gave him a sour look before averting her eyes back to her vanity mirror. “Tell me again why I decided to accept the invitation for tonight’s event?”

“Uhhh…” Jack drawled out as he thoughtfully looked up. “Because you’re a stickler for punishment?”

Elsa rolled her eyes at him before breaking into a dry laugh.

He smiled gently at her and asked, “you’re not thinking about backing out, are you?”

“And bring dishonor to my family’s name by going back on my word?” Elsa nervously wrung her hands together in her lap, then resorted to smoothing out the cream-white fabric of her slim, sheath long dress. She grew quiet for a while before continuing. “I’m just afraid that I’ll mess up,” she confessed under her breath. “So many of our family friends will be attending the gala tonight and many of them are expecting me to be someone that is capable of handling my father’s corporation.”

“And you can,” Jack answered with a raised eyebrow. “What’s the problem?”

She dropped her gaze. “...Ever since the funeral, Kai has told me that there were many attempts to try and take the corporation from me. Many people tried to convince him, as vice-president, to hand over the reigns to them. Kai’s just acting as the CEO for my father’s corporation until I turn 21, but hearing all this shows me how many people want this corporation for themselves...and how little faith they have in me to run it.” Elsa paused, locking eyes with the young man. “It’s more or less the feeling that everyone in the corporate world is already looking down on me, Jack.”

“Hey,” he said, kneeling down in front of her so that he could be at eye-level with her. Jack gave her his signature, confident smirk and told her, “who’s the one that managed to graduate Burgess - with honors - at the age of eighteen?”

Elsa rolled her eyes and shied away from him out of embarrassment. “Oh, not this again, Jack.”

“Who’s the one that managed to get accepted into the Master’s program immediately after graduation?” he asked, leaning forward even more, prompting her to plant a hand upon his forehead and gently shove him away. Jack laughed at her obvious embarrassment. “Hey, I’m just stating facts. They’re all the things that you’ve accomplished so far and they should count for something.”

She sighed, hugging herself loosely. “You’re right…I shouldn’t be thinking so negatively over this. It hasn’t even started, has it?”

“Definitely not,” Jack replied with a confident grin. He looked towards her vanity and saw the matching necklace she was to wear to complete her outfit. The delicate, diamond necklace shimmered beautifully as he took the silver chain in his hands. He helped her up onto her feet and carefully placed the piece of jewelry around her thin neck. “You’ll do fine,” he reassured her. “Even if you mess up tonight, no one can take the throne from its rightful queen.”

Elsa gently touched the necklace after he finished fastening the two ends together. She let out a short sigh, as she allowed a small smile to spread across her heart-shaped face. “...Thanks, Jack,” she said in earnest. “You always seem to know what to say.”

He smiled back at her as he extended out his hand. “Well then, shall we, Miss Winters?” he asked, bending his back a little to give a slight bow. Jack let his smile turn into a boyish grin as he gave her a charming wink.

At this she stifled down a giggle. “You’re so lame,” she said as she took his hand.

“But you’re the one taking me as your escort for tonight. What does that make you?” Jack suggested with a playful smirk.

“Like I have a choice,” she responded with lighthearted scoff. Elsa returned his smirk with one of her own and said, “let’s just try to get through this night without any incidences, okay?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said teasingly, earning him a light slap on the shoulder.

 

* * *

 

"Our first debut into high society!" Anna exclaimed, clapping her hands together as she sat beside Elsa in the backseat of their luxury sedan. "I wonder who we'll meet there! Maybe a handsome guy!"

Elsa giggled at her sister. "You do know that a lot of the guests at the gala are going to be old men? Probably as old as grandpa was. I know you're into older guys, but not _that_ old."

The strawberry blond pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. " _Gross_. That’s not fun…”

"Do you really want a boyfriend that badly?"

Anna shrugged. "It'd be nice to just have someone I could call my own. Not like being single’s a big deal, but...it’d just be nice to go on dates and spend time with each other. I mean, I do go on dates, but I doubt they actually _love me_ for _me_ , you know? I’d just like to experience love for once." She quickly widened her eyes and reassured Elsa, "n-not that you don't love me or anything! I know you do! Even though we don't really talk as much as before!”

Elsa laughed into her hand. “I know. It’s a different kind of love you want.” She paused, looking at her little sister and sharing in an awkward silence with her mutually before she softly said, “...we’ve...drifted apart the past few years, haven’t we? After our parents died -”

"Mm." Anna hugged herself, staring out the window and watching downtown Arendelle go by. "Elsa...I'm sorry,” she eventually muttered. When she saw the bewildered expression upon her older sister’s face, she elaborated, “I was being irrational that day. It’s just...it hurt, you know? Their deaths came out of nowhere and I wasn’t emotionally prepared for any of it.” She looked over to Elsa once more and gently took her hand in hers. “Sorry,” she repeated, “I know that you were looking out for me - _our family_ \- in your own way. I was just too frustrated to realize any of that at the time.”

“It’s not your fault at all, Anna,” Elsa gently consoled. “I shouldn’t have let things escalate to that point that day. I had to be the mature older sibling, but I let myself get carried away by my own emotions.”

The younger sister laughed wryly. “I guess we’re both at fault then?”

“Seems like it,” Elsa said in response, followed by a soft giggle. She switched the position of their hands so that hers was now resting on top of Anna’s. Giving it a light squeeze in silent reassurance, Elsa was happy some of the tension between them disappeared. She knew that the strain in their relationship after their parents’ funeral had bothered Anna a great deal as well.

“Let’s just have fun tonight,” the blond gently suggested. “Get rid of all of these bad feelings between us and start fresh. How’s that sound?”

Anna’s eyes lit up and she nodded in exuberant joy. “Yeah! I’d like that!”

The two sisters shared in a moment of innocent laughter, only to be broken by the younger’s curious question.

With a raised eyebrow, Anna asked, “were you being serious though? About the guys, I mean. Will there _seriously_ only be really old grandpas attending?”

“Anna -”

“What? It’s a legit question!”

 

* * *

 

The gala was being held at one of Arendelle’s premiere art galleries and it was certainly a noteworthy building. The entire main structure was constructed out of glass and shaped in the form of a spire. It was lit up with massive, colored lamps that cycled through a multitude of hues every few minutes. The smaller, connected buildings were also decorated with lights and intricate ribbons, giving off a very festive look even though it was only the beginning of November.

Elsa took all the sights and sounds in as soon as she stepped out from the car. Immediately she felt her nerves getting the better of her and she suddenly wished that she could just go back inside the car for the rest of the night.

She tightly fastened the button to her white, faux fur cape so that her bare shoulders were shielded from the cold night air. As she heard Simon helping Anna out from the backseat, she felt someone grab her arm lightly, causing her to flinch in surprise.

“Jack,” she breathed out in relief when she saw that it was him. “Don’t do that,” she said pointedly.

“Do what?” he asked in feigned innocence.

“Sneaking up on me. I thought you were some of my father’s friends. I wasn’t ready to interact with someone so early on into the party.”

Jack stifled down a chuckle. “You’re not getting cold feet now, are you Ice Queen? Even after that pep talk I gave you back at home?”

She frowned at him. “It’s definitely different from just talking about it versus actually being here.”

“Well, if it’s of any reassurance to you, at least you won’t be alone.”

Elsa knitted her eyebrows together as she gave him an inquisitive look. “You weren’t serious about being my escort, were you?”

“I guess I wouldn’t say _‘escort,’_ more like, your bodyguard.” Jack didn’t bother divulging any further, even when she asked. His tone grew low, almost ominous, as he leaned in close to her ear. “It really isn’t the time or place to tell you this,” he whispered. “Just make sure you stay within my line of sight at all times.”

Before Elsa could ask anything else, she was interrupted by Anna, who had finally gotten out of the car.

“ _Wow_!” she exclaimed, completely taken aback by the gala. “This looks amazing!” Anna gushed over the extravagance. She ran off ahead of Elsa and Jack, but turned around after a few steps. “Come on, you slowpokes! Are we going in or not!?”

Elsa and Jack shared a look before the latter remarked, “at least someone’s excited.”

The young woman let out a dry chuckle as they followed the bubbly red head. “Anna’s always been a social butterfly. You know that. She even danced with one of our father’s friends at the last party we hosted. Remember?”

“More than I care to,” Jack responded with a playful eye roll. “ _Weaselton_ , right?”

“ - _Weselton_.”

“ - _Ah_ \- close enough.”

Elsa lightly hit him on the arm. “Play nice,” she warned him, “he’s going to be attending tonight’s gala too and I don’t want people complaining that my bodyguard _-slash_  -escort is a _rude, sarcastic ass_.”

“Aw and here I thought I wasn’t,” Jack answered with a snicker, earning him another light slap to the arm.

“I’m already nervous enough as is, Jack,” she whispered under her breath as she handed off her gala invitation to the doorman. As soon as he checked off that she was present, along with Anna and Jack, they walked into the gorgeously decorated lobby. “Just _please_ don’t add another headache to this evening,” she pleaded with him.

Jack sighed, loosening his necktie as if he was uncomfortable. “Whatever you say, Ice Queen.”

Elsa glared at him and grabbed at his loosened tie, giving it a sharp yank to bring it back up to his neck. He made a little gagging noise, but she ignored it. “No looking like a slob either,” she dictated firmly.

Irate, Jack fixed the tie so that it wasn’t practically choking him. “ _Yeah, yeah_ , I got it,” he grumbled.

It was then that Anna suddenly clapped her hands together excitedly and exclaimed, “look, Sis! They have a chocolate fountain!” The young teenager squealed as she rushed off without warning.

“Anna!” Elsa called out, only to find that her sister had already disappeared within the sea of guests. She made a move to go retrieve her, but was stopped by Jack.

“Let her go,” he said.

The blond frowned at him in confusion. “But -!”

“ - Gala seems pretty safe, at least for her. As for you, however, you don’t leave me sight.”

Elsa looked annoyed with him, but when she opened her mouth, demanding an explanation, she was cut off by a grandiose voice that welcomed her.

“Miss Winters!” the all too familiar voice of Duke Weselton called out. He approached them with a slight bounce in his step and a bright twinkle in his dark eyes. As soon as the short, middle-aged man stood at eye level with Elsa, he extended out his arm with a stiff poise. “Pleasure to meet with you again!” he said with a nasally tone.

“Of course,” she answered him, taking his hand gently. Elsa flashed him a warm smile, trying to hide her uneasiness. “Pleasure is all mine, Mister Weselton -”

“No, no,” he chuckled kindly, “please call me Duke. The lovely daughters of Agdar and Idun have more than enough permission to refer to me on a first name basis.”

Elsa giggled nervously in response. “I - I see.”

“Hm, in an hour or so, the orchestra will start playing in the ballroom. Could I interest you in sharing a dance with me, Miss Winters?”

“Ah, well.” She hesitated, but quickly gave in. “I’d be delighted to.”

“Excellent!” he exclaimed. “I will be looking forward to it. Ah, for now, I will need to go greet some of the other guests. Please excuse me.”

As soon as he left, Elsa heard Jack snicker from behind her. She snapped her head around and sourly glared at him. “Don’t - say -  _anything_ ,” she growled under her breath.

“I don’t even think I can,” Jack chuckled, trying hard not to burst out into laughter as he closely followed the young heiress. “The situation spoke for itself.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be protecting me from situations like that?” she asked as she quickly tried to escape the crowds and filter out into one of the more spacious hallways inside the gallery. Swiftly, she spun on the heel of her sparkling silver sandals to face the young man, nearly causing him to collide with her. “Now I’ll be stuck dancing with Weselton soon and who knows how awkward that’ll be,” she mumbled.

“Would you relax?” Jack said exasperatedly. He broke into a smile as he reached around behind her, releasing her thick french braid from its tight bun in one fluid motion.

“ _Hey_ -!” she protested. “What the -?” Elsa stammered out of irritation. “Wendy spent so much time doing my hair, Jack!”

Before her anger could mount any higher and before they attracted too much attention, he took hold of her braid with the lightest of touches and brought it over so that it rested limply over her left shoulder. “Just because an old guy asked you out for a dance, doesn’t mean that you have to keep sporting that old hairstyle.” As soon as he stopped chuckling, Jack’s lighthearted playfulness disappeared, only to be replaced by a darker, serious tone. “He may be a family friend, but I’m not taking any chances,” he attempted to explain.

Elsa narrowed her eyes at him in suspicion. “Did...the Guardians say something about the gala?” she asked, fully aware of the tight-knit organization that Jack worked for.

“Not in particular,” he stated, “but it’s a large gathering of affluent people and, not to mention, your first time attending one of these things after your parents died. North told me to be on my guard. If there is a threat, you’re most likely their main target, not Anna, so don’t worry about her.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned away from him. “You’re making it sound so ominous.”

“Just...be on your guard. Nothing should happen tonight, but you can never be too sure. Better safe than sorry, right?” he said with a smile. Jack took her braid in his hand again and let it run past his fingers slowly. “At least with this hairstyle, you’ll be easier to spot if we ever get separated. Did you see how many women here had their hair in a bun? It’s like they were all told to dress the same way for tonight.”

She touched her braid and asked deadpanned, “is that why you suddenly decided to mess up my hair?”

“I made it better,” Jack responded smugly.

“You still messed it up,” she argued, pushing back her bangs so that they no longer framed her small face.

“Details, Ice Queen. Details,” he said with a click of his tongue. “I just think you look cute with your hair down.”

She failed to offer up any sort of response. Instead, her cheeks flared up and as soon as she could feel the rush of heat invade her face, Elsa stormed past him, heading back into the main part of the gallery. “L - Let’s just get back to the gala,” she muttered, avoiding his eyes. He would slip-in embarrassing statements like that once in awhile and it drove her crazy - in a bad way. She disliked how she would react to them so sensitively, even when it seemed like he said it in such a nonchalant manner.

Her heart thumped wildly inside of her chest and Elsa caught herself glaring at the ground because of it. _‘How annoying…’_

 

* * *

 

It was only two hours into the gala and Elsa already found herself wishing that she could go back home. The only reason she willed herself to stay was because of the obligation she had to meet as the gala’s most “valued” guest. It felt like she shook hands with practically every one of the guests. Some she recognized as friends of her father and mother, while others she had absolutely no idea as to who they were. As exhausted as she was, Elsa kept her composure, fully aware that she was there as the future head of the Winters household and CEO to her father’s corporation.

“Tired?” she heard Jack tease from behind her.

Elsa turned her head to face him and she irately drummed her fingers against the surface of the large banquet table in front of her. “No,” she said pointedly, “you know what I’m doing.”

“Hiding from Weaselton?” Her silence was the only answer he needed. With a chuckle, he told her, “well if it’s of any reassurance to you, he’s busy dancing with another group of ladies. They all seem smitten with him.”

Her eyebrows twitched upwards and she broke into a stifled giggle. “Really?”

“Yep,” he answered her with a broad grin, “you got nothing to worry about.”

Elsa drew back a little at the sight of him extending out a hand towards her. “Uhh,” she breathed out, unsure of what he was doing. “What -?”

“Wanna dance?” he asked her with a playful smile.

She gave him a disgruntled, narrowed gaze in response. “While I’m going to look past the fact that this is completely out of the blue, I thought you’d be too busy tonight being my bodyguard.”

“Yeah, but...I’m also here as your escort, aren’t I?” He smirked at her as he took her hand, unwilling to take no for an answer. As he led her out to the dance floor, he told her, “besides, you look like you could use a little bit of fun.”

As soon as they reached the main ballroom floor, Elsa flushed a deep cherry red when he pulled her in close by the waist. “Wa - Wait a minute,” she silently protested, “I can’t dance. I don’t know the first thing about ballroom dancing.”

“Neither do I,” he admitted with a sheepish grin.

They took their first, awkward steps, trying to match the tempo of the orchestra’s music and trying to mimic the movements of the other couples since they had no idea what they were doing. After a couple of failed attempts of stepping on each other’s feet multiple times, they both resigned at dancing with proper form and simply resorted to swaying back and forth in rhythm.

“Sorry,” Jack mumbled after a while.

Elsa glanced at him, but didn’t raise her head. “Huh?”

He looked apologetic. “They hurt don’t they? Your feet - I kind of stepped on them...a lot.”

She looked up at him and quickly shook her head. “What? No!” Elsa could tell that he was regretting the idea of pulling her onto the dancefloor. She offered up a shy smile and stammered back, “I - I’m sorry too. I stepped on you a lot more than you did.”

Jack chuckled softly, using the hand he had on her waist to bring her in closer. “You did? I couldn’t tell,” he stated.

From the shortened distance between them, Elsa promptly bowed her head down again, avoiding his gaze.

“We can go sit down again if you’re tired or if it hurts,” he gently suggested. Jack tried to get a better look at her face, but when she avoided him, he went on to assume that she was in pain and she wasn’t telling him of it.

Elsa glanced up at him shyly. “I - I’m not in pain...or tired...it’s just…” She couldn’t bring herself to say it. Elsa was having a hard time facing him at the current time, partly out of embarrassment, but mostly because she felt downright shy. This wasn’t the first time she felt this way around him, but it certainly did bother her after every occurrence.

The way her heart pounded against her chest every time he said something teased her, said something flirty, or did something heartwarming. The way her stomach lurched when they would accidentally brush up against each other. The way her hands would get clammy just from maintaining eye contact with him - like now.

She nervously fidgeted with his hand, lacing and unlacing her fingers with his in order to let the sweat on her palms disappear before he’d take notice. Sensing that he was still concerned over her, Elsa gathered up the courage to raise her head to face him. With a lovely rosey red tint to her normally pale cheeks, she squeaked out, “I’m fine. This is just...nice.”

“...O - Oh…” Jack immediately noticed the shy expression she wore, momentarily catching himself thinking that she looked adorable, and he blushed as well. “Yeah,” he awkwardly breathed out, “this is nice.” It finally began to register to him of just how intimately close they were to each other.

As they swayed from side-to-side aimlessly, Elsa took this opportunity to really study his face. She never noticed how flawless his pale skin was, not a single pimple or scar in sight. She also never noticed just how masculine his face had become over the years, while still maintaining a certain level of youthful, handsome beauty. His light blue eyes still carried a playful, innocent light, but they also had a smoldering charisma behind them. The lanky, short young boy that she had met nearly nine years ago had grown into a broad-shouldered, tall young man right before her eyes and she began admitting to herself that she found Jack to be attractive - both physically and personality-wise.

Despite all this, Elsa convinced herself that all she had was a simple crush on him. A simple crush that she had to get over soon; the sooner, the better. Not only did he ever refer to himself as only her ‘friend’ or ‘bodyguard,’ but he never made any sort of romantic advances towards her. She’d be setting herself up for heartbreak because it was clear as day that Jack Frost wasn’t in love with her.

The gorgeous string ensemble ended, bringing their dance to a gradual stop. The guests in the ballroom all applauded the orchestra as they gave a beaming bow before moving onto the next set of songs. Elsa and Jack pulled away from each other, giving each other a nervous glance before breaking into an awkward laugh.

“That wasn’t so bad,” she told him with a giggle, holding a loose hand over her mouth and concealing her ruby red lips modestly.

Jack chuckled, revealing the tips of his pearly white teeth as he did so. “Yeah, if you get past us stepping over each other’s toes.”

Elsa laughed. “I had fun regardless.” She nervously tucked a lock of platinum blond hair behind her ear and looked at him through her eyelashes before whispering to him, “...thanks, Jack. F - For the dance, I mean.”

He felt a soft heat engulf his face. “Uh, yeah...n - no problem. You know...like you said, it wasn’t that bad. Maybe - uhm - we could try it again -?” Jack stopped when he felt a light hand on his shoulder. He turned around at the sudden touch and immediately his expression changed into that of cold shock.

“Sorry,” a petite, green haired woman said with a sweet smile. She looked towards Jack, then towards Elsa. “Could I step in for a dance with him?”

Realizing that she was asking her, Elsa widened her eyes after a few seconds, and stammered out uneasily, “u - uhm, I suppose -”

“ - Thank you!” she replied with delight. “I’ll be sure to bring him back, darling!” Without another moment’s hesitation, she whisked Jack away by the arm, leaving Elsa standing there by herself in confusion.

Jack seemed annoyed with the eccentric-looking woman as they exchanged a few words before she awkwardly made him dance with her. Elsa wondered if he knew her.

“...Excuse me?” she heard a shy, male voice from behind. Elsa turned around to meet eyes with a tall, brown-haired young man. His kind hazel eyes seemed to catch the indoor lights beautifully as he looked down at her. With a handsome smile, he held out his hand and asked, “could I ask you for a dance, Miss Winters?”

Elsa’s awkwardly accepted, unsure if it was okay to dance with another person due to the warning Jack gave her. He seemed harmless enough, surely it would be fine. “Yes, of course,” she told him politely, taking his hand and letting him take the lead in the dance.

 

* * *

 

“Tooth, what are you doing here?” Jack whispered under his breath, clearly annoyed with her presence. He narrowed his eyes at her when she sheepishly laughed in response. “I thought I told you guys that I could handle this myself.”

“Never hurts to have another set of eyes,” she replied with a lighthearted giggle to which Jack responded with a deadpanned glare.

As he followed her lead in the simple waltz, he asked her, “how did you even get in? It’s invitation only.”

Toothiana gave him a lopsided smile. “You think we regard ourselves as a high-ranking organization for nothing, Jack? Manny pulled some strings to get an invitation.”

With a scrutinizing look, Jack asked, “it’s just you here, right? No one else?”

“I would have liked to come here with Bunny, but he said he hates these black tie events,” Toothiana said with a defeated sigh.

He said nothing back to her, silently thinking to himself that at least Toothiana was here instead of the hot-blooded, Australian man. Jack and him were like oil and water. They could exist alongside each other on mutual terms, but they could never mix.

Jack made sure he didn’t step on Toothiana’s long cocktail dress as they glided together across the ballroom floor. “Whatever. As long as he or the rest of the Guardians aren’t here, I guess it’s fine.” He flickered his eyes over to where he had left Elsa and saw her dancing with another man. “Tooth,” he muttered lowly, drawing her attention over to them.

She casually spun her and Jack around, and glanced over at the other couple. “It’s fine,” she answered him casually. “He doesn’t seem like a threat.”

“But -”

“Or are you jealous that she’s dancing with someone else?” Toothiana giggled as he blushed and averted his eyes away. “I’m just teasing.” She kept her hand tightly clasped with his as she explained calmly, “we’re still close enough to act if he were to harm her. You have your gun, don’t you?”

Jack narrowed his eyes at her. “You know that the security here would have kicked me out if they caught me with one. I didn’t even want to take the risk since Elsa placed so much importance on tonight’s event.”

Toothiana tilted her head slightly as she peered up at him from the corner of her eyes. Her pink irises flickered imploringly. “Then are you confident in using your modified staff? You barely had any practice with the additional functions Sandy implemented.”

“ - I can handle it,” Jack cut in stubbornly. “It’s not that hard to master.”

The green haired woman chuckled as the song began to transition into a new one. Signalling the end of their dance, she gave his shoulder a light pat as she pulled away. “Just be careful with it,” she warned. “Don’t let your confidence become arrogance.”

 

* * *

 

Throughout the dance she shared with the unknown man, Elsa could not help, but let her mind wander to who exactly was the woman that had so brazenly asked Jack for a dance. She seemed much older than her and him, but she still looked very much youthful at the same time. The blond assumed that it was because of the extravagant makeup and colored hair.

“I apologize if I was interrupting you and your date,” the brunette man said as he led the dance.

“Ah, no, it’s fine,” Elsa offered up a kind smile. “He’s...not really my date,” she confessed.

The young man seemed delighted to hear the news, although he kept up his composure despite it. “I see,” he replied, holding her small hand tighter. He flashed another handsome smile at her as he said, “I’m sorry, I never really introduced myself, did I?” He chuckled. “My name’s Edwin Lehner. You can just call me Edwin,” he said shyly.

Elsa gave a nod of acknowledgement. “Edwin, then,” she said, testing the name on her tongue. “Oh, my name’s -”

“ - Elsa Winters,” he finished for her, earning him a raised eyebrow from her. Quickly, he explained himself. “You’re...quite the valued guest here at tonight’s event and frankly...I’ve had my eye on you for the entire evening.” He admitted while blushing like mad.

At this confession, Elsa felt her own cheeks heat up. “We - Well,” she stammered, averting her eyes as she spoke. “Thank you,” she responded uneasily.

Edwin tried to laugh it off. “I know it must sound extremely creepy, but...you’re quite stunning, Miss Winters. I had no idea that the future CEO of Winters Financials would be such an icon of beauty. Surely you must have a line of men waiting to date you.”

Elsa laughed dryly. “Hardly,” she answered, “I’ve never dated anyone. Never really had the time...plus, no one really asked me out in the first place. Not that I would have accepted.”

He blinked at her, as if in disbelief before he broke into a soft laugh. “Yes, you seem like a woman very strong in your convictions. I would imagine that it would scare off any potential suitors. I’ll admit,” he continued, “I too, was a bit scared to approach you for a dance. I wasn’t sure if you would say ‘yes’ or if you would even be up for dancing, but when the other guy asked you first, I took the chance to ask you after him.”

She could tell that he was extremely nervous, but flattered that she was dancing with him. He seemed to have good, innocent intentions, although incredibly awkward. “Well, I suppose I’ll have to say thank you for your willingness to approach me,” she responded with a modest smile.

Edwin simply smiled gently, breaking into a wispy laugh. As the current song came to an end, they pulled away from each other, mutually deciding to end their brief dance together. However, before she could take her leave, Elsa felt him take hold of her hand once more.

“Please,” he practically begged with his round hazel eyes, “could I possibly take you out on a date?”

Unsure of what to say, Elsa stammered unintelligently for a moment before responding. “This is so sudden, I’m sorry...I...don’t know what to say -”

“ - You don’t have to answer me right away, of course, but I would greatly appreciate the chance if you would be so kind.” Edwin took out his phone from his dress pants and with a few swipes of his thumb across the clear screen, he held it out to her. “I would at least like to keep in contact with you.”

She took his phone, seeing no harm in doing so. He was awkward, but he was a manner gentleman that seemed genuinely interested in her. What would it hurt?

Elsa quickly punched in her phone number into his address book and handed the phone back to him. She smiled as his face lit up with glee.

“I’ll text you after the gala so that you have my number as well!” he exclaimed, thanking her before hastily excusing himself.

As Elsa gently waved him off, she found herself reunited by none other than Jack.

“Had fun?” he asked as they walked off the dance floor together.

“Did you?” she implored with a raised eyebrow. “You looked like you knew her - that oddly dressed woman.”

"I guess you could say that." The silver haired man chuckled. “Were you watching us?” he asked back, prompting her to sharply turn her head away from him.

She felt the heat of embarrassment engulf her face as she stuttered out, “it’s kind of hard not to miss her.”

“True,” Jack answered jokingly, shoving his hands into the pocket of his black pants as they made it out to the large rose garden behind the art gallery. There were several dozen white marble sculptures placed here and there amidst the rose bushes. Several gala guests were taking a stroll through the gardens as well, observing the statues as they were artistical masterpieces.

Elsa and Jack however, went off to the side of the gardens and took a seat on one of the marble benches.

“You didn’t answer my question still,” he told her.

She widened her eyes. “Huh?”

He sighed, using his arms so that he could lean back and relax. “Did you have fun with him?” he asked again.

Elsa furrowed her brow, wondering why he was pushing that question, but she answered him anyways. “Yeah...I suppose. He was kind of awkward...it felt even more awkward than when we were dancing, if you could believe it or not. I enjoyed my dance with him though,” she said, topping it off with a feather-light laugh. Elsa pursed her lips, in curiosity, as she glanced at him, wondering why he had fallen silent. He seemed annoyed.

“That’s good,” he responded, despite his obvious resentment.

Was he jealous?

 _‘No way,’_ Elsa told herself. She was sure that he didn’t like her back so he had no reason to be jealous. ...Right? _‘He must be annoyed by something else, maybe with that woman from earlier,’_ she convinced herself. Jack would never get jealous over something as petty as her dancing with another man.

As if he could hear her thoughts, Jack explained himself. “I’m only asking because you can never be too careful. Like I said before, you’re a target...you always will be no matter what.”

The blonde dropped her head so that she was staring at her hands in her lap. “...Right…” she muttered, scolding herself for even toying with the childish jealousy idea. Jack was her dedicated bodyguard and despite their close friendship, she knew that it would be foolish to think that it would evolve past that stage.

Jack glanced at her, sensing her discomfort, and he quickly added on, “I’ll protect you. Don’t worry,” he reassured her laxly.

Elsa turned her head to look at him. She parted her lips slightly, drawing in a sharp, silent breath as she did so. “I’m not worried about that at all...I know you will,” she whispered.

“Then why do you still look worried?”

A constricting feeling tightened up her throat. Elsa found herself unable to answer him properly. Knowing that the reason behind her crestfallen state was directly and indirectly because of him, she kept her mouth shut, fearing that if he knew, it would destroy her fickle pride. Not to mention, Jack was oblivious, but he wasn’t an idiot. He would most likely find out about the schoolgirl crush she had on him and if he did find out, her pride wouldn’t be the only thing that would be broken.

It wasn’t something Elsa ever wanted him to know. It would completely ruin the friendship she had with him and they would be forced to a strict bodyguard/mistress relationship. It was something she did not desire.

“Sorry,” Elsa laughed off, concealing her true feelings behind a clever smile. “I’m just tired.”

Jack still looked concern over her, despite her answer.

She ceased her laughter gradually and gave him a content smile. “Really. You know how I’d much prefer being alone than at a social place like this. It’s draining.” Elsa brought both her hands up to touch her braid. She gently ran her hands over her silky locks and admitted in a soft-spoken voice, “as much as I liked dancing earlier...I like being out here - with you. It’s nice and quiet, don’t you think?”

His gaze dropped, feeling a bloom of heat color his cheeks at her words. “Y - Yeah,” he fumbled out in a lower pitched voice than usual. Jack quickly cleared his throat, trying very hard not to show that she unnerved him with her unexpectedly affectionate statement. Elsa seemed to have that effect on him - _a lot_.

Jack nonchalantly glanced at her, with the glance turning into an ardent stare when he realized that she wasn’t looking at him. As she looked up at the night sky, he took notice of how beautifully the moon’s light was illuminating her features. Her soft jawline, her small nose, plump, but petite lips, her softly waved blond hair, and the way the light caught her sapphire blue eyes at that moment made him liken her to the paintings of angels in the art gallery.

It was silly, even he had to admit, but Jack was at a loss of how to describe her. He’s had the pleasure of watching her grow from a stubborn young girl to a beautiful young woman that occasionally made butterflies flutter uncontrollably inside his stomach. She had matured wonderfully over the years, both physically and mentally, and Jack knew that if he had a _‘type’_ it would be her.

However, he knew that he shouldn’t fall in love with the young heiress. He was her bodyguard, a friend at most, and that was the way it should stay. It was for the best.

Sighing to clear his drifting thoughts, Jack pushed himself off of the bench and stood up. He saw her looking up at him curiously. “How about we go back to the party?” he suggested. “It’s getting cold out here.”

Elsa smirked at him. “The cold’s bothering you, Jack? How ironic,” she stated in reference to the name he coincidentally shared with the fabled winter spirit. This earned her a dry glare from him.

“Spoken like a true ice queen,” he grumbled, holding out a hand for her to take.

She giggled lightly as she took his offered hand. Just as she got back up on her feet, there were a series of loud gunshots that pierced the otherwise tranquil atmosphere of the gala.

“ _Gun_! He’s got a _gun_!”

Almost immediately, there was the sound of a crowded panic. Screams resonated throughout the air as the guests began to rush out from the art gallery, all of them seeking safety outside. As a flood of guests rushed into the rose garden, Jack took Elsa’s hand tightly and ran away from the major exit.

“Jack!” she called out after him, desperately trying to keep up with his pace while trying to not get her heels stuck in the dirt. “Anna,” she said in a strangled voice, as she tried to catch her breath, “she’s...she’s still inside the gallery somewhere.”

He held on tightly to her hand, preventing her from going anywhere. “She may or may not be. For all we know, she could have already fled with the other guests. We can’t go back for her now.”

“But -”

Jack looked her directly in the eyes and told her, “my first and only priority is to get you out of here safely.”

Unable to say anything back in response, she simply nodded, and decided to follow his lead. Jack seemed to know where he was going as they ran further away from the chaotic crowds. By the time the approached the side entrance, which was partially concealed with a few ivy vines, they could hear the muffled sound of approaching police sirens.

Before Jack could do anything to open the gate, he froze upon hearing the sound of a loaded gun.

“Don’t move. Hands where I can see them,” the gruff male voice ordered.

Jack turned. He quickly strode up to Elsa’s side and held out his arm protectively in front of her. With a gentle touch, he guided her so that she stood behind him, out of harm’s way. With a cold glare, he met eyes with the man. He was dressed in a sharp suit with his hair combed back in a clean, slick style, making him just as ordinary as any of the other gala guests. In his outstretched arm, he held the black handgun, which caused Jack to assume that this man was the mysterious shooter that had caused this chaos.

His index finger teased at the trigger as he sneered at them. “Didn’t you hear me or do you want to die that badly?”

Jack stood his ground and remained silent towards the unknown man. He stood a step back and Elsa mimicked him. They were in a tight spot and he made no sudden movements, afraid that in doing so, she would be harmed.

“Well?”

The bodyguard grit his teeth at the sight of two others joining him, a man and a woman. All three were dressed like normal gala attendees, hardly menacing, at least until they pulled out their concealed guns as well.

Elsa shivered at the sight of three guns aimed at her and Jack. Her heart sped up within her chest, a tightness taking hold of her nerves. Jack had always warned her about threats, but this was the first time she had ever faced it directly in the eyes. It was frightening to say the very least.

“Elsa,” she heard Jack mutter under his breath, “stay behind me.”

“Jack…?”

She saw him unbutton his blazer and reach around his back. Her eyes flickered to his hand, which disappeared underneath the black coat and came back out clutching a metallic, long object.

Jack gave it a quick spin in between his fingers, causing the staff to extend out to its full length. He held it tightly in his hand, holding it out in front of him in protection.

The unknown female snickered into her white gloved hand. “You brought a stick to a gun fight? How stupid. You must be itching to die tonight.”

“Are you here for me?” Elsa suddenly asked.

“ _Elsa_ …” Jack whispered under his breath, trying to get her to stay quiet.

“Oh? So the young heiress is aware of the dangers she’s surrounded by,” the first man chuckled, adjusting the rose that he wore on his left breast pocket. He paused, as did the others, growing deafeningly silent.

The police sirens grew louder.

“Simply put, Elsa Winters -” He held the gun up straight towards them. “ - We’ve been sent here to _kill_ you.”

A single, loud gunshot resonated throughout the air, followed by an interrupted scream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a small word of thanks to those that have left kudos/bookmarks on this work!


	5. The Three Families

It felt as if the air around had grown completely still. For a split second, Elsa forgot how to breathe just from the heavy tension that lingered around them all. It was as if the loudness of the gunshot had jarred her senses, preventing her from thinking properly.

Her throat felt like it had closed up almost as soon as she let out a hoarse scream.

Luckily, the gunshot had missed them entirely, thanks to the oddly dressed woman that Jack had danced with earlier. With lightning fast reflexes, she had managed to sneak up on them and throw a knife into the back of the man’s leg just as he pulled the trigger to his gun. He fell to the ground with a sharp grunt, shaking in pain.

“My, my,” the green haired woman cooed, holding up several more knives in her lithe hand. She wore a sweet smile upon her face as she approached them calmly. “So you are the ones that caused all this trouble?”

Jack loosened the protective arm he had around Elsa. His blue eyes widened slightly. “Tooth…” he breathed out.

The other two assailants sharply turned on their heel and pointed their guns at her.

“Not another step!” the woman hissed.

The husky man that accompanied her piped up when Toothiana didn’t heed their warning. “We mean it, lady!”

Toothiana clicked her tongue as she lowered her brow line in concern. “How long are you going to keep this up?” she asked. Her gaze turned deathly. “The police are almost here. They’ll arrest you three if you’re caught like this.” Her pink eyes roamed over to the man that she had clipped on the leg. He was miserably trying to get back up onto his feet, without much success. “Especially after you foolishly killed the security guard that tried to confiscate your gun.”

They all seemed unnerved by the police sirens that grew louder by the second.

“However -” she said, tossing her knives up into the air and catching all three with much ease. Her once eloquent and delicate voice fell low as she darkly muttered, “- if you fail to leave right now, I can’t guarantee that you’ll be alive when they come to arrest you.”

They shivered under the clear threat that was ever-present in her voice. The sound of the sirens grew louder and all three of the mysterious assailants knew that they needed to get out of there while they can.

Cursing under her breath, the woman took hold of her injured partner, picking him up off the ground with her other partner’s help. “This isn’t over,” she seethed, looking towards Toothiana, then back at Elsa and Jack. “You got lucky this time, Winters.”

As they fled, Jack made an attempt to stop them.

“ _Hey_!” he called, trying to run after them, only to be stopped by Toothiana’s arm. Jack stared down at the older woman incredulously. “Tooth, we need to go after them -!”

“ - _We_ need to get out of here too,” she explained, carefully skirting away her dress at the slit and concealing her knives on the garter belt she wore.

He grit his teeth together, worked up over the incident. “But -!”

“You _know_ that we must operate on the highest level of discretion,” she firmly told him, narrowing her pink eyes slightly. “Unless you can end a fight in under 5 seconds, Jack, being in the middle of one when the police get here isn’t going to benefit you or anyone.”

Jack opened his mouth to retaliate, but promptly shut it, knowing that this was a policy that the Guardians operated under. Unless it is of absolute importance or a dire situation, the police should not be involved in their affairs. It would only cause unnecessary problems for them in the long run.

Releasing the tension in his body, unwillingly, Jack let out a sharp sigh. “...Fine,” he muttered lowly. He spun the metal staff counterclockwise, in between his fingers, collapsing it back down to its compact size. As he tucked it back into its holster on his back, he heard Elsa walking up to them.

She curiously looked to Jack, then to Toothiana. “...Who are you?” she asked the older woman cautiously.

The large, gold hoop earrings the green haired woman wore shook slightly as she tilted her head slightly. A gentle smile played upon her face as she greeted the young heiress. “This is our first time meeting, isn’t it, Miss Winters? As much as I’d like to get through proper introductions, I’m afraid that we must leave soon. The police will be here any minute and they’ll question us if we’re not with the other guests.”

 

* * *

 

Jack appeared sour and clearly irate as he approached Toothiana after sending Elsa off with Simon. The young man loosened his necktie and popped open the first two buttons of his collar, sighing in relief as he did so. His clothes were far too constricting for his tastes. As he unbuttoned his blazer, he took the time to look around.

Dozens of police cars had arrived at the gala, along with a few fire engines, as well as a few ambulances. Most of the people being tended to by the EMTs were those that had fallen during the chaotic, frenzied stampede, but one of the patients being carried out is what caught Jack’s eye.

A stretcher was wheeled out, carrying the dead body of the fallen security guard. He was in a body bag, obscured from the public eye as he was wheeled into a separate van that belonged to the police.

Toothiana witnessed this as well and clicked her tongue softly. “Poor guy,” she muttered, “probably never expected to die tonight. This was probably one of the safest events by far.”

“Not that ‘safe’ now since someone died,” Jack commented grimly as he shoved his hands into the pocket of his pants. He leaned back against the trunk of his dark blue Audi and said nothing for a while. Finally -

“Tooth.”

“Hm?”

He looked towards her with a scrutinizing glare. “...Why did Manny send you here?”

She stared at him for a while before breaking into a light giggle. “Didn’t I tell you this earlier, Jack -?”

“ - It can’t be for a simple reason like that. North, Sandy, you, even Bunny told me that I’m ready to handle things solo. You guys all know that I’m more than capable of handling an event like this gala. You being sent here as another set of eyes isn’t a good enough reason for me, Tooth.”

The green haired woman could tell that this was causing Jack a decent amount of stress. She gave him an odd look and asked, “what is it that you want to know? I’m afraid that I can’t tell you much.”

He let out a humorless laugh as he shook his head. “I should’ve known. It’s always that answer.”

“Jack…”

“I thought we were...a family. And I thought family members don’t keep secrets from each other.” The silver haired man stared at Toothiana for a bit and when he saw that she was unable to talk, he sighed and pushed himself off of the car. “I can only assume that you guys don’t trust me, especially Manny.”

“Jack, you know that’s not true.”

“If it’s not true, then prove it. Tell me why you were sent here tonight without my knowledge.” He narrowed his eyes at her and when she simply averted her eyes, he let out a discontent scoff. “Fine,” he whispered under his breath, “you guys can just keep me in the dark forever. That’s totally fine by me.”

Toothiana met his eyes briefly, but saw him forcibly tear his gaze from hers.

“...I’m going back home. Elsa’s probably worried,” he said curtly. However, before he could walk away, he was stopped by her.

She gripped his sleeve tightly in her small fist, preventing him from leaving. “Wait - Jack,” she said, lowering her pink eyes in hesitation. When she raised them again, she found herself locking gazes with him once more. “Why would you think that we don’t trust you?”

“Your actions say enough,” he stated, a hint of a malice in his voice. “Whenever I ask questions, you guys conveniently don’t have answers for them. I don’t know anything about the Guardians, you, Bunny, or anyone. I...I don’t even know anything about myself.”

“Is that why you’re upset?” Toothiana asked. She curiously looked up at him as he avoided her prying eyes.

Jack let out a calm exhale, trying to suppress his emotions before they accidentally flared out of control due to his frustration. “I just don’t want to be kept in the dark anymore...or treated like an outsider.”

She dropped her gaze to the ground for a moment before slowly letting go of his sleeve. She inhaled sharply before letting herself smile up at him. “I know you don’t,” she said in earnest, touching his hand gently in reassurance.

He glanced at her, a slight discouragement flashing in his eyes.

Toothiana noticed this and quickly tried to comfort him. “...You’re also right...we do consider you our own, but we’ve done a poor job at showing it, haven’t we?” She paused for a bit before answering. “Come to HQ tomorrow, first thing in the morning. I can’t answer all the questions you may have, but we can convince North to tell you what you need to know. Okay?” She smiled sweetly, giving his calloused hand a tight squeeze before letting go.

Jack, unsure of whether or not he will actually get answers, simply grunted lowly in response. He was still highly skeptical by Toothiana’s invitation, but he couldn’t pass up the chance to actually learn about his past, as well as about the Guardians.

 

* * *

 

Elsa nervously paced the entrance hall, still dressed in her gala gown. She didn’t even want to make an effort to get out of the uncomfortable heels she wore, with how her worries were plaguing her mind. For one, Anna was still out of contact, despite all the voice messages Elsa had left her, and two, it was taking Jack a lot longer than expected to return.

She checked her crystal quartz watch once more, sighing as it marked one whole hour since she had left the gala. Deciding to call Anna once more, she took her phone out of her purse, only to stop once she saw a pair of headlights illuminate the window overlooking the driveway. Quickly, she rushed over and pulled back the curtains, peeking out to see an unknown car pulling up.

Her brow wrinkled in suspicion, but they immediately pulled up when she saw her sister get out from the passenger’s seat and a guy that she had never seen before, get out from the driver’s side. “What?” she mouthed to herself as she ran over to the door.

As soon as she yanked open the front door, her eyes zeroed on in her younger sister like a hawk. “Anna!” she exclaimed.

“Elsa! Heeey!” the strawberry blonde greeted with a wide grin, oblivious to Elsa’s rising temper. “You’re back a little early. Doesn’t the gala run until midnight -?”

“ - Where were you!?” she sharply scolded, eliciting an incredulous look from Anna.

“Wha -? Elsa, I -?”

“Answer the question, Anna,” she said with such strict dictation and anger in her eyes that it caused her sister to shrink back slightly in fear.

Before Anna could say anything, the young man she was with stepped in. “Miss Winters,” he politely addressed Elsa, bowing slightly in good manner. “If I may - I was the one your sister was with tonight.”

The platinum blond distrustful, slanted gaze before asking, “I’m sorry, but who are you?”

“My name is Hans Westergaard, Miss Winters,” he said with a gentlemanly smile.

Elsa gave him a quick nod of her head, acknowledging him, but failing to take the bait that he had thrown out to avert her anger away from Anna. “Do you have any idea what happened at the gala tonight?” she sharply questioned the young girl.

“Uh, _no_?” Her eyebrow quirked upwards. “What _did_ happen?”

She gave her a deadpanned stare. “Anna - _you_ \- you weren’t _even_ at the gala then!?”

Anna let out a loud, disgruntled sigh. “Can you stop _overreacting,_ Elsa? I was with Hans! We met at the gala and decided to take a drive around town for a bit -”

“ - You don’t even know who he is!” Elsa fired back, growing immensely frustrated with her little sister. She quickly realized how harsh her tone had gotten when she saw the look of perturbed shock on Anna’s face. She clenched her fists and released them as she sighed sharply. “I’m sorry, Hans. Could you _please_ leave?”

Anna widened her cerulean blue eyes. “Elsa -!” She stopped herself when she felt Hans’ hand gently touching her shoulder. She met eyes with him. “Hans…”

“It’s fine. I’ll leave you two alone, as your older sister wishes.”

Elsa knew that it was bad manners to ignore him when he made an attempt to say goodbye to her as well, but she could frankly care less at this point. All her attention was focused on Anna at the moment and she knew that she couldn’t just let this incident slide. In an unsympathetic gesture, she frigidly crossed her arms over her chest and waited until Hans left the estate. Once the automatic gate closed behind his departing car, she let out a sharp exhale.

However, before she could say anything, Anna made the first move, marching defiantly past her and into the house.

“Anna!” Elsa called out after her, astonished that she was choosing to give her the cold-shoulder. She followed her inside and closed the door behind her. “Anna! We need to talk about this -!”

The strawberry blond stopped halfway up the stairs and sharply turned back her head. “There’s nothing to talk about! How could you!? Hans did nothing to warrant such rudeness!”

“This isn’t about him! It’s about you!” she scolded. “Anna, you can’t just walk out of the gala without telling me, especially with a guy you just met! What if he was someone dangerous? Who knows what could have happened to you!?”

“Hans isn’t that type of guy, Elsa! He would never hurt me! He’s such a gentleman, extremely kind, mature, and -”

Elsa pinched the bridge of her nose briefly. “How could you possibly know all this just from spending a couple of hours with him? Anna, this is serious. Just because a guy’s nice to you, doesn’t mean that he is a _nice_ person. Do you understand?”

Anna let out a sarcastic laugh which came across as a scoff. “Weren’t you the one that told me to have fun tonight?” She growled in frustration at Elsa’s silence as she threw her fists down. “It’s _so_ unfair!”

She shot her a stunned look. “What are you talking about? Nothing’s unfair, Anna. You crossed the line when you put yourself in danger.”

“I was never in any danger, don’t you get it, Elsa!?” she cried, catching Elsa completely off-guard with her display of tears. “You always... _always_...only look at things from your perspective, but you disregard how I feel! I’ve felt _so, so_ lonely. I just want someone by my side! Mom and Dad’s been gone, you’re always so busy with your studies and dad’s corporation that you barely have time for me…”

Elsa lowered her head, feeling the darkness of guilt starting to swallow her up whole. She said nothing, afraid that she would make the situation worse.

Anna angrily wiped away her tears. “I feel like I have no one. _At least_ you have Jack. You may not realize it Elsa, but tonight...Hans made me feel like someone actually cares about me. He made me feel wanted - not just because I’m a Winters or that I’m your little sister - but as myself.” When she saw that Elsa still seemed unconvinced, she swallowed the harsh lump in her throat and sniffled back tears. “Whatever,” she muttered bitterly under her breath. “I knew you wouldn’t understand.”

“Anna, wait -”

Without another word, the young girl sprinted up the stairs and disappeared into the hallway. Elsa promptly dropped her hand back down to her side, letting out a defeated sigh as she did so. Just when she thought that things were going to be okay between her and Anna, one night and a single boy ruined it all.

“Great,” she whispered, sighing once more as she quietly removed her earrings. As she bent over to remove her painful heels, she stopped halfway upon seeing another pair of headlights illuminate the windows once more. She removed her sandals and briskly walked over to the door.

She drew in a sharp breath when she opened the door just a crack to see Jack’s car rolling up into the driveway. When she heard the car engine being turned off, she stepped outside to meet him.

“What took you so long?” she asked, coming off more like an interrogative question rather than a curious one.

Jack gave her an inquiring, slight tilt of his head as he locked his car. He approached her and asked, “were you waiting for me all this time?”

Elsa blushed hotly at the teasing smirk on his face. “No,” she said pointedly. “I was waiting for Anna as well.” She walked alongside Jack, who continued to stare at her, silently prodding at her with his eyes so that she would fill him in. Elsa glanced at him and gently held herself as she sighed. “I’ll tell you tomorrow. It’s... been a long day.”

“Fair enough,” he responded with a shrug, only to be stopped by her.

“In exchange - _you_ have to tell me what happened tonight, especially with who that oddly dressed woman was.”

Jack pulled his lips up to one side in a smug grin. “So you are interested in our relationship. Are you jealous?”

Elsa vainly tried to suppress the blush growing on her face as she rolled her eyes at the same time. “Don’t flatter yourself, Jack. I’m only interested because I think I should know for the purposes of my safety.”

He let her inside the house first and chuckled. “Alright then. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

 

* * *

 

He could feel the bitingly cold early morning air nip at his pale cheeks as soon as he stepped out of his car. As he closed the door behind him, Jack looked towards the large, multi-storied office building and saw Toothiana standing by the side entrance door. When she made eye contact with him, she smiled broadly and waved her hand in a beckoning motion.

Jack set his lips into a firm lip as he locked his car and approached her.

“Good morning, Jack,” she greeted him in a chipper voice. “Hope this wasn’t too early for you.”

He watched as she opened up the door behind her. “Of course not. Four hours of sleep is _plenty_ for me,” he responded sarcastically.

Toothiana giggled lightly, brushing off his sarcasm with a fake aloofness as she always did. She played with the ends of her green, bob cut hair, twirling a slim index finger around one of the strands of yellow highlights. They walked through the empty hallway of the large office building and went straight for the elevators. “I’m glad you came though. I’m sure you have a lot of questions for us.”

Jack raised his eyebrow slightly as they waited for the doors to open. He made eye contact with the short woman once again.

“I know you’re still skeptical, Jack,” she said, noticing the expression he wore on his face. “But I promise you, we’ll tell you all that we can.”

“A little bit earlier than this would have been nice,” he scoffed.

The elevator doors slid open and she stepped inside, Jack following closely behind her. Once the doors closed up, Toothiana flipped open of the emergency panels and punched in a numerical code. As soon as she finished and closed the panel, the elevator began its descent, past the lobby floor. A lone sigh escaped her as she rested her hand upon the metal walls of the elevator. “It’s...difficult to say why we haven’t told you everything about the Guardians, Jack. Even I don’t know Manny’s reasons for keeping you in the dark. I don’t think any of us does.”

He narrowed his blue eyes in a scrutinizing glare. “You guys don’t know the boss man’s reasons for any of this, do you?”

Toothiana remained silent.

“...Then why do you guys follow and accept him as our leader?”

Again, Toothiana said nothing. Instead, when the doors to the elevator finally opened up, she told him, “Manny saved us, Jack. All of us - _even you_.”

“What are you _talking_ about?” he asked exasperatedly as he followed her into the compound. The soles of his dress shoes squeaked slightly against the steel plated floors as he hastened his stride just to keep up with the green haired woman. “Even if he did _‘save’_ me, I hardly feel anything towards the guy since I’ve never seen him, much less spoke to him face to face.”

“Jack -” Toothiana said, stopping him. “- I understand that you’re frustrated, but we’re doing the best we can.”

Jack paused, then slowly realized that perhaps she didn’t have all the answers that he was looking for. Perhaps none of the Guardians did. He clenched his fists tightly. “Will I be speaking to Manny then?”

She turned back to look at him with a troubled gaze, silently communicating her answer.

He knew that Toothiana wasn’t at fault and he knew that certain things were out of her control, but he was frustrated. “Forget it,” he said bitterly, sharply turning away from her and back towards the elevator. “If I can’t speak to Manny personally, then this is a waste of time.”

“Jack -!”

“ - _Jack_.”

At the familiar, low gruff voice from behind, the young man stopped in midstep and turned around. He saw North approach him, his posture lumbering and his baby blue eyes narrowed underneath bushy gray eyebrows.

Jack gave him a perplexed stare. “North…”

Motioning with his hand, he called him over. “Walk with me.”

 

* * *

 

Jack sat upon the edge of the large mattress uncomfortably as he warily watched North skim over the small bookcase he had in his room. As he tapped his calloused fingertip against the spine of each photo album, he let out a low _‘hmph’_ from his throat, as if fondly remembering the memories stored in each one.

Before Jack could say anything to him, North spoke first.

“Have you been doing well, Jack?” he asked, his back turned towards him.

In a standoffish manner, he responded, “you saw me just last week, North -” He stopped when he saw the burly old man turn around to face him. Averting his glacier blue eyes away from North’s stern gaze, Jack mumbled, “...depends on what your definition of _‘well’_ is.”

North let out a suppressed sigh as he returned his attention back to his bookshelf. “Jack...Tooth told me about what happened last night at the gala.”

“Yeah, _why_ did you send her?” he asked pointedly. “I thought I said last week that I could handle it myself.”

“We know you can. You have proven yourself more than capable in doing so.” North pulled out an aged photo album from the bookshelf and dusted it off with the palm of his hand gently. “You managed to graduate from Burgess with a degree in chemical engineering. You’ve exceeded our expectations with our training exercises, although...Tooth did tell me that your knife throwing is still something to be worked on.” He chuckled fondly as he approached Jack. “You are smart, strong -”

With the high compliments, Jack couldn’t help, but smile a little.

“- _but_ prone to letting your ego get to your head.”

His smile turned into a disgruntled frown. He rested his chin against his propped up hand and asked with an eye roll, “is that why you guys are still treating me as if I’m an inexperienced kid?”

“No,” North answered as he handed off the album to Jack. There was a slight twinkle in his eye as he met eyes with the young man. “We aren’t your babysitters, Jack, so don’t think of us in such a way. We are your family and family members help each other out...also, we shouldn’t keep each other in the dark.”

Jack held the album in his hand, unsure if he should actually open it. He gave an inquiring look up at North and watched as the old man took a seat on the bed next to him.

“Open it,” he said with a gentle smile. “It’s about time you know more about us.”

With an exasperated sigh, Jack pried open the album to the first page. There was a single, black and white photo inside with a couple holding their infant child in their arms. He looked to North with a raised eyebrow.

“That is Manny, along with his parents. You see, Jack, Manny is the heir of one of the three powerful, wealthy families in Burgess. Being a member of one of these three families is a blessing, but it is also a curse. Manny knew this all too well since right after he was born, his family’s estate was set on fire and both his parents perished in it.”

“Set on fire?” Jack questioned. “So someone did it on purpose?”

“Yes, the Lunanoffs were targeted. For the longest time, the Pitchiners were suspected to be the culprits, but there was no hard evidence to convict any of them. The police even wrote it off as an ‘accident’ rather than an arson, but to this day, Manny is convinced that his parents were murdered.”

Jack made a slight face as he looked back down at the album. “So then...there’s the Lunanoffs, and I’m guessing, the Pitchiners. So who is the last family?”

“I think you know, Jack.”

He wrinkled his brow for a brief moment before his eyes widened slightly in realization. “...The _Winters_?”

North gave a nod of his head in response. “Yes. The Lunanoffs and Winters had a mutual partnership. That’s why the Winters did all they could to get justice for Manny’s parents. Luckily for Manny, he had his grandfather, Ombric Lunanoff to look after him.”

Jack flipped the page and saw an elderly man holding the same infant from the previous photo. His eyes then went to the photo on the next page and he saw a toddler Manny with two other boys, one slightly older than him and one around the same age. He heard North chuckling fondly at the photo.

“That,” he said as he tapped his finger on the older boy’s face, “is me.”

The silver haired man stifled down a laugh. “Never thought you could look so...cute.”

North made a slight annoyed face at Jack, then returned his attention to the photo album. “Jokings aside, Jack - Ombric eventually thought that raising Manny alone and in hidden seclusion wouldn’t be the best for him, so he adopted two kids around his age. Those two kids were of course, myself and Night.”

Letting his blue eyes fall back down to the photo, Jack let them linger upon the face of the third boy that North had mentioned. He seemed much more calm compared to North, but more confident than Manny. With his light colored hair and delicate face, he looked a bit sickly, but the bright smile on his face said otherwise. Jack’s gaze turned pensive as his eyes rested longer on the boy called Night. He used the tips of his fingers to gently touch at the photo, but stopped as soon as North started speaking once more.

“We were quite the trio,” he said, chuckling once more as he allowed Jack to flip through the remaining album pages.

“Yeah,” Jack scoffed lightly with a lopsided smile as he looked through the multiple photos of the boys doing various activities together. “I could tell.” As he reached the very end of the album, his smile dropped a little and he asked North, “but what does this have to do with the Guardians? Or myself?”

He saw the elderly man’s eyes fall dismally and quickly Jack attempted to remedy the situation that he had thought he caused.

“Not that your story was boring or anything like that!” he quickly explained. “I just...came here today to find out why we do what we have to do and why we serve Manny.”

“I understand, Jack,” North chuckled sadly as he took the album away from him in a slow motion. “Tooth probably filled you in on why we all feel indebted towards Manny. Myself and Night...we both felt grateful that Ombric adopted us and we grew up alongside Manny. Over the years, that trust had built up and our friendship grew. Although I can speak for myself in that case, I cannot divulge why Tooth and the rest of the Guardians follow Manny. It isn’t my place to say.”

He could sense the young man’s disappointment and frustration at his answer.

“But…” he said additionally. “Manny all chose us for a reason.”

Jack flashed him a perplexed look.

“It is quite funny...Manny rarely interacts with people, but he has an uncanny knack for seeing the good in people. He hates those that show even the slightest of impure intentions or deceit.”

He could practically feel North’s baby blue eyes boring into his own in a near scrutinizing look. It was so intense that Jack had to look away with a slight aversion of his eyes.

North’s stern expression quickly loosened up as he placed the album back on the bookshelf. His mouth widened into a toothy grin. “You will find it soon, Jack,” he reassured.

“Uh,” the young man muttered dumbly, “what exactly am I looking for?”

“Answers to your questions, of course, but perhaps...mainly yourself.”

“...Myself?”

“You seem to be...lost. I understand you must be doubting your roles within the Guardians and your purpose for being here, but this is where you belong. You belong here with us - and with Elsa. Don’t ever doubt that.”

Jack let out a sigh, his shoulders relaxing slightly as he did so. “Yeah...I know,” he replied, letting a smile take over his face. It quickly fell once more as he stood up from the bed slowly. “Will I ever get to speak to Manny?” he questioned softly.

North grew silent, unable to answer him immediately. After a long pause, he said cautiously, “Manny...is ill, Jack.”

“Sick?”

“Yes, but not physically. You see...he’s very paranoid. Ever since he found out from Ombric that his parents were murdered and that he is also a target, he grew reclusive - hence, why he built this place underneath the corporate building that once belonged to his family.” He could see the confusion cloud Jack’s eyes once more and he let out an inaudible sigh in response. “For now...he isn’t letting anyone close to him except for me.”

“Not even me or the other Guardians?”

He shook his head. “No...Manny...has been through a lot. You must understand, Jack. He lost his parents, eventually Ombric, and not soon after, he lost one of his best friends -” North suddenly stopped himself, fearing that he had said too much.

Jack made a slight face, wrinkling his eyebrows together as he put the pieces together in his mind. “...You mean, Night?” He wished to further pursue the topic, but when he noticed the immense amount of stress present on North’s face, he decided against it.

“I’m sorry, Jack. Manny and...myself included, we were both very good friends with him. I know you’re still curious, but -”

“ - It’s okay,” Jack respectfully declined. “I know you guys were all good friends. I understand that it must be hard for both you.”

“Perhaps when Manny is ready, he will speak with you,” North assured him with a gentle smile. He walked back over to Jack to touch his shoulder in a firm grip. That was when his expression turned coldly stern. “But there is something I must warn you of Jack. Manny’s paranoia is not unfounded. He has a good reason for it.”

Jack looked up at North curiously. “A good reason…? The Pitchiners?”

“Maybe. The Pitchiners disappeared almost 21 years ago. The head of the family fell into a sudden, deep depression and their financial power dwindled after that. Or...it could be someone else that wants a taste of what the three families of Burgess have.”

“They’re _that_ important, huh?”

“More than you or I could ever imagine,” North explained. “Even with the Lunanoffs and Pitchiners in dormancy for now, they still hold enough power within the title alone. That’s why, you must keep Elsa close. Protect her with all that you can because she will be inheriting Agdar’s corporation soon and I fear that she could be the next target.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh, thank you so much for all the kudos/subs/bookmarks you guys! Warms my heart to know people are actually reading this.
> 
> (And yes, I know in some parts of North's dialogue, the grammar sounds 'off', but that was done intentionally since in the movie he has a heavy Russian accent, thus, bringing the assumption that his English isn't perfect.) 
> 
> -ZERO-


	6. Standstill

"Anna, it's alright."

"But - !"

" - Really."

She pouted a little, stubbornly wishing that Hans would take her apology. "I just feel bad for not even saying goodbye last night!"

Anna was surprised when Hans had randomly dropped by her house. She did invite him inside, but all they did so far was exchange apologies and nervous glances. Both of them seemed genuinely sorry for what happened last night.

"And I'm here saying that you don't have to feel bad!" The red haired young man took one of her hands and gently squeezed it. He smiled handsomely at her and said, "you don't have to be sorry about anything. I understand how your sister would feel. I am...kinda older than you - by a lot."

"Yeah, but...I don't mind," Anna mumbled, blushing. "A lot of the guys at my school or the ones around my age are so immature sometimes, but you're different. You seem to actually understand me," she professed to him.

Hans seemed to be flattered by the generous compliment, as he blushed as well, nervously clearing his throat. "W-Well...thank you for saying that, Anna. You're very kind as well - and cute."

"Wha? Me? Cute? Pfft -" She let out a sort of snort, waving her hands in denial. "No way."

"Really! You're really quirky, but...I like it. That's why I was drawn to you at the gala. You seemed to be quite the social butterfly." Hans chuckled deeply, amused by the memories of her last night speaking animatedly even with the older guests.

Anna shyly looked away from him, embarrassed by his words. "I'm actually surprised..."

"About what?"

"That you bothered to come by today. I thought my sister would have scared you off yesterday."

Hans quirked up an eyebrow as he asked, "and you really thought that would stop me from seeing you?"

"Well she kinda scared off a lot of the other boys that tried to flirt with me - her and her bodyguard, Jack. Although...Jack does it unintentionally," Anna muttered.

He laughed at her. "Really now? Well...if they get scared off that easily then that's probably why they're ‘boys’."

Anna snickered in response. She was completely infatuated with him at this point. He was the definition of a mature gentleman - her true prince. She knew that she had to convince Elsa to accept him. There was never going to be another guy like him.

"Are you planning on doing anything tomorrow? You're on winter break right now, aren't you?"

"Mhm!" she excitedly nodded her head while answering. "What did you have in mind?"

"How does a dinner and movie, sound? There's this great steakhouse in my hometown that I'm sure you'd love, since it seems like we both like the same type of foods." His dark green eyes seemed to twinkle with excitement when he saw Anna's face lighting up at the sound of a date night.

"That sounds great!" she exclaimed.

Hans' expression turned into that of worry when he asked her, "your sister...will she be okay with it?"

"Okay with what?"

The two visibly stiffened at the sharp voice. Practically in unison, they turned around to see Elsa standing there with her arms crossed over her chest, looking very much displeased.

“O - Oh! Elsa! I thought you’d still be in bed!” Anna sheepishly laughed as she approached the blond.

With an icy cold glare, Elsa looked over at Hans, then back at her sister. “What is he doing here, Anna? I thought I made it clear last night that I don’t want you around boys you don’t even know.”

“I do know, Hans!” Anna replied pointedly, narrowing her azure eyes in the process.

“You just met him last night, Anna,” Elsa tiredly said. “Don’t make me argue this with you again.”

“There’s nothing to argue about!” she shouted angrily. “Why are you treating him as if he’s some creep? Why are you treating me as if I’m a kid that doesn’t know any better!?”

Attempting to quell the ensuing tirade between the two sisters, Hans stepped in calmly. “Miss Winters,” he said respectfully towards Elsa. “Please, I know I overstepped my boundaries last night by taking Anna outside of the gala without your knowledge, but I assure you that I did nothing inappropriate to her.”

Elsa opened her mouth to respond, but was quickly cut off by Anna.

“Yeah!” she chimed in. “Hans is the sweetest gentleman I’ve ever met and the fact that you’re treating him like this is insulting!”

An exasperated sigh escaped her. “Anna, do you have any idea what you’re saying right now? You _just_ met him last night.”

“So?” Anna childishly fired back. “If that’s the case, then how can I even make new friends?”

Elsa gave her a deadpanned look. “You obviously aren’t looking for a _‘friend’_.”

The young girl tried to control her explosive anger by clenching her fists and throwing them down to her sides. A frustrated growl escaped from behind her clenched teeth. “How could you possibly know that? You aren’t me!”

“You’re right, I’m not, because if I were you, I wouldn’t be making such foolish life choices,” Elsa said with such cold strictness. She narrowed her light blue eyes at her little sister in intense scrutiny.

Anna faltered at the frigid tone of her sister’s voice. She pursed her lips tightly together, her brow furrowing for a brief moment before her own eyes narrowed in a hateful glare that caught Elsa off-guard. “At least I don’t have to pay someone to be my friend.”

“... _Excuse me_?”

“Just because you don’t have any friends, other than Jack, doesn’t mean that I’m also incapable of making friends either!” Anna appeared to be near tears from the mixture of anger and also regret that she was speaking such hate fueled words towards her one and only sibling. But that didn’t cause her to stop.

Elsa gave her an incredulous look. “I don’t need any friends,” she snapped, “and I don’t know what you’re _trying_ to imply, Anna, but I pay Jack to be my bodyguard, not for his friendship. And I refuse to continue this _immature_ conversation with you any longer.” Her body shook slightly, unnerved by the heated fight, as she turned to head upstairs.

Anna quickly wiped away the hot tears that threatened to run down her face. She heard Hans come up behind her and no sooner did she feel his comforting touch upon her shoulder. She turned to look up at him.

“Hey, how about we get out of here?” he kindly suggested with a smile. “It might be for the best.”

Unable to answer him properly, Anna simply sniffled.

“You both need some space...time away from each other.” Hans led her towards the front door slowly. “How about we go out for some ice cream? My treat,” he offered up, knowing that she had a weakness for sweets.

She let out a broken laugh as she wiped away the last of her tears. “Chocolate,” she answered him softly.

 

* * *

 

She poured over her business textbooks, hoping that studying would take her mind off things, but it did just the opposite. Elsa couldn’t concentrate and she had trouble absorbing any of the information in front of her. Frustrated, she let out a tired sigh and leaned back in the large leather armchair.

She resorted to staring blankly at the ceiling of the study, getting lost in her own thoughts.

When was the last time she and Anna had fought this much? Perhaps back at their parents’ funeral.

It was worrisome and it concerned Elsa greatly that her little sister was planning to go out with a man that was nearly seven years older than her, but what could she do? Anna was persistent and stubborn about dating him and at this point, Elsa knew that she could not convince her to stop seeing him.

Anna seemed dead-set on seeing Hans, even if that meant resorting to flinging such spiteful words to her own sister.

Elsa’s eyes dimmed as she lowered them to her studies strewn all over her desk. She stared at them blankly, wondering what she could do to make amends with Anna without giving into her selfishness. Before she could think about it any longer, a knock on the door called her attention.

Stammering, she collected her thoughts hastily and answered, "come in!"

The door opened up and Elsa relaxed a little when she saw that it was no one other than Jack. Her face instantly lit up at the sight of him.

He smiled back at her, but drew back slightly behind the door when he saw the papers and books on her desk. “Oh...sorry, are you busy studying? I can come back later if you want -”

" - No," Elsa laughed a little nervously as she shut the books quickly. “I’m not really able to concentrate anyways.”

Jack walked up to her desk and placed his hands down upon the edge, leaning over towards her. Elsa shrank back into her chair, wondering what he was up to.

"U - Uh...Jack?" she stammered.

He furrowed his brow, staring at her intensely, then raised his hand to give her a light jab of his finger onto her forehead. Jack laughed childishly when Elsa yelped and quickly covered her forehead with both of her hands.

"What was that for!?" she exclaimed, sourly glaring up at him while he continued to laugh at her reaction.

Jack's laughter died down to a snicker gradually. When he finally managed to catch his breath, he let out a sharp sigh and leaned over once more. With a little smirk, he commented, "you know if you keep looking so stressed, you're going to get wrinkles faster."

Elsa blushed from embarrassment and retorted, "why do you care if I get wrinkles or not?"

"I just worry for how you'd look in the future -"

"That's none of your business!" she snapped out, annoyed. Elsa let out a huff and crossed her arms over her chest. "Stupid," she said under her breath. She leered at him as she grumbled out, "did you just come in here to tease me or did you actually have something to say?"

"The former, because I just _love_ to torment you." Jack gave her a smug grin as he leaned against her desk, only to have her shoot him a nasty glare. Seeing as how she was not up for his sarcastic quips, Jack dropped it and sighed as he walked over to the sofa and plopped himself down on it. He leaned back against the backrest.  
Elsa gave him a dry, flat glare, waiting for him to speak.

Jack rested his leg upon his other knee as he casually told her, “I just came to check up on you. You seemed stressed last night...a _nnnn_ d you still look like it.” He curiously prodded at her with his eyes, staring at her inquiringly as she seemed to avoid his gaze.

She finally let out a wispy sigh and let go of all the tension in her body. Elsa turned her swivel chair slightly away from Jack as she muttered, “it’s Anna. She’s being...frustrating.”

He chuckled as he made himself comfortable by shedding his blazer. “I figured as much.” Jack observed her for a bit, his smile falling slightly in the process. “You’re not blaming yourself for whatever happened, are you?”

Elsa wryly laughed. “How can I not? According to Anna I’m currently the worst sister ever.” She got up from her chair and turned her back on Jack. Dismally, she stared out the window at the snow covered courtyard it overlooked. “...I’m also incapable of understanding her desires,” she murmured, letting her head drop. “Maybe Anna’s right about me.”

Jack made a slight face. “You’re hardly selfish if that’s what you’re implying.”

“Am I really?” she asked incredulously. She turned around briefly to meet eyes with him, before turning away once more. Stroking the length of her thick braid, the young woman muttered under her breath, “I only view things from my perspective and believe that if I’m okay, everyone else must be okay as well. I was never aware that Anna felt so lonely to the point where she’s even considering the fact of dating a man nearly your age.”

Elsa heard Jack coming up behind her.

“...Anna is right about me, Jack. I don’t have friends at the university or outside of it. My sister was the only one that I had by my side and now I lost her. I’m just incapable of keeping up my relationships with anyone, I suppose and I can only attribute that to my own selfishness.”

The silver haired young man leaned over slightly so that he could get a look at the heiress’ face. He blinked curiously before letting out a tired sigh. “Those wrinkles really are relentless, aren’t they?”

Elsa’s eyes grew wide in shock for a second, before they remained that way in pure irritation. She snapped her head towards him and shouted, “this is serious, Jack -!”

He placed his hand over her forehead, stopping her. “Yeah, so is getting yourself worked up over this matter.” Jack cocked his head to the side and said in concern, “you really are a stickler for punishment, aren’t you, Ice Queen?”

Her cheeks flared with a heat. “I’m not!” she strongly retorted. “What I’m saying is the truth!”

“Depends on who you’re talking to,” Jack answered as he took his hand off of her.

Elsa watched him avert his gaze over to the window beside them. She waited for him to speak, wondering just what he was getting at.

He gave her his signature lopsided grin, the tips of his white teeth peeking out from behind his pale beige lips. “You’re just being a good older sister for Anna. You have every right to act as her mother given the current situation,” he comforted her.

The platinum blond didn’t seem convinced. She turned away from him.

“...And I know you feel bad about what happened between you and her, but that doesn’t mean that you’re a bad person.”

Elsa let out a dry scoff. “My lack of friends or relationships says otherwise.”

“Hey, I think you’re pretty tolerable,” Jack said with a languid shrug.

She gave him a raised eyebrow. “‘ _Tolerable_?’”

Jack snickered softly. “Don’t read too much into it, Ice Queen. You know what I mean.” He sighed softly as he held his head. “I guess what I’m trying to say is that you’re not all that bad like you think you are. Yeah you’re a little rough around the edges at times, but who isn’t? It isn’t something that should hold you back.”

Elsa loosened up slightly at his uplifting words. She felt the corners of her lips turn up into a modest smile. Shyly, she tucked a lock of blond hair behind her ear and softly she said to him, “thanks.”

For a split second, Jack’s heart skipped a beat at the sight of her sweet smile. He quickly averted his eyes away from her, afraid that if he stared longer, he would lose his cool composure. Clearing his throat, he added on with a flustered stammer, “a - anyways, you always have me. That’s a given.”

Her eyes went wide. “Huh?”

He turned, staring her directly in the eyes with the usual warm, sweet gaze he held towards her. “I’m not here only as your bodyguard. ...I’m here as your friend too.”

Elsa’s cheeks turned a light hue of pink as she went back to tucking a lock of blond hair behind her ear, even though it wasn’t necessary. She could feel his gaze on her and she found herself afraid to look at him out of spontaneous shyness.

But at the same time she also felt a slight... _disappointment._

The word ‘friend’ didn’t settle well with her. In fact, Elsa could feel the corners of her lips falling slightly at the mere sound of it, especially from Jack’s mouth. She was in discontent with it for reasons she refused to accept and the young man quickly took notice.

“Is something wrong?” he asked with a furrowed brow.

Elsa faced him briefly before letting her eyes drop. “N - No. Of course not,” she lied while mustering up a weak smile. “I’m just worried about Anna still.”

He wasn’t convinced, but Jack saw her trying to change the subject with a lighthearted laugh. “Yeah,” he replied, going along with it. “She’s being relentless, I’m guessing.”

“Over _a guy_ ,” Elsa emphasized with a heave of her narrow shoulders. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared out the window.

“Why don’t you just let it play out?” Jack suggested, earning him a raised eyebrow of disbelief from the heiress. “If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work.”

“He’s like...your age, Jack.”

He narrowed his eyes slightly in insult. “You make it sound like I’m old.”

“Let me rephrase it,” Elsa said exasperatedly as she held her head. “He’s too old for _her_. If I was the one planning on dating him, then the age gap isn’t so...weird.”

“A _nnnn_ d, would you date him?”

“ - Of course not,” Elsa replied back flatly. She shot him a slight glare. “You know I don’t have an interest in dating.”

“Not even a little?” he prodded.

“I don’t have the luxury to do so, unfortunately,” she responded with an eye roll. “Besides, it’s not like a guy is actually interested in me, nor am I really interested in any of the ones that have approached me.”

Jack chuckled. “I wouldn’t know about that. Plenty of guys seemed interested in you over the years. You were just blind to them.”

“Really? Name one.”

He let out a sigh as he scratched the back of his head. “Plenty,” he simply told her, earning him a razor sharp glare from the young woman. Jack broke into a lopsided grin and asked, “are you really that skeptical?”

Elsa exhaled loudly out of her nose as she firmly stood her ground before him. She stared directly into his eyes, as if she was waiting for a legitimate answer from him.

“Well…” Jack drawled slightly as he shoved his hands into the pocket of his pants. He languidly paced in front of her, putting one foot before the other in a lazy fashion. “I can only imagine that you intimidate the hell out of a lot of guys, which might be why they don’t make much of an impression on you. But it’s not like they completely avoid you. They have no reason to, at least, in my opinion.”

She shot him an inquisitive stare.

Jack stopped pacing, but didn’t face her as he said in a low mumble, “I think you’re…” He could feel his own words hitch in his throat, unable to spill out like how he had planned for it to. There were a plethora of things he wanted to say to her. He had in mind beautifully charming words that would all suitably describe her, but he didn’t.

He couldn’t.

Instead he settled for something less than satisfactory. “You’re good,” he simply said, causing Elsa’s brow to knit together in confusion.

“Uhm… _’good’_?”

“Yeah...you know, you’re a good person.” Jack sheepishly laughed. “You shouldn’t take what Anna said to heart. People do like you, you know.”

“R - Right,” Elsa stuttered back, caught off-guard by the underwhelming reply. She tried not to look so disappointed, but it was easier said than done. Elsa had hoped for much more from him, maybe something to advance their relationship from just simply being ‘friends.’

Sensing the awkward atmosphere that had uncomfortably settled in between the two, Jack averted his eyes away from her and stood there dumbly, unsure of what to say next. He got the feeling that she was upset and while he could probably fish for a guess as to why she was upset, he decided not to.

The melodic sound of Elsa’s cell phone rang, breaking the thick silence in the room.

Relieved by the temporary distraction, the blond practically dove for the phone which rested upon her study desk. She looked at the caller ID and saw the name ‘Edwin L.’ flashed on the clear screen. Her eyes darted up to Jack, who quickly caught on.

“We can talk more later,” he said with a quick smile before taking his leave.

Elsa nodded her head in response, giving him a modest, but clumsy smile. She waited until he closed the door behind him to answer the call.

“Hello?”

 _“Hi Elsa! It’s me, you know, Edwin from the gala last night.”_ She could hear him chuckling nervously on the other end of the line.

“Ah, of course,” she answered in gracious shyness. Elsa pressed her lips together tightly before speaking again. “I frankly didn’t expect a call from you so soon.”

Edwin laughed lightheartedly at her comment. _“Well...as cheesy as it sounds, I just couldn’t stop thinking about you since our dance. The reason for my call is that I’d really like to ask you out on a date...if you don’t mind.”_

“O - Oh,” she let out an interrupted sigh to try and gather her thoughts. “I’m sorry, Edwin. This is just so sudden. I’ve never really been on a date, honestly -”

 _“ - I completely understand!”_ he quickly added in. _“Please, I don’t want you to feel pressured. Maybe...instead of a ‘date,’ how about we just call it an ‘outing’? Just as acquaintances? I would really like to know you better, Elsa.”_

She faltered initially, but eventually gathered up the courage to answer him. With an inaudible exhale, she calmed her nerves and nodded her head, even though she knew that he wouldn’t be able to see her. “That sounds nice,” she responded, earning her a sigh of relief from the young man on the other end of the line.

 _“Oh God,”_ he chuckled, _“I was worried you were going to say ‘no’.”_

All Elsa did was let out a light laugh. “Well, I don’t see the harm in what you’re suggesting.”

 _“Perfect,”_ Edwin said with a shy chuckle. _“Then...how does next Saturday sound? Perhaps sometime around 6 in the evening?”_

“That sounds great.”

_“Alright then. Just text me your address and I can pick you up!”_

Elsa agreed and said her goodbyes to him. As soon as she hung up the phone, she clutched the small device tightly in her hands and let out a sharp exhale in hopes of relieving some of the tension that had built up in her muscles. Her heart pounded in her chest out of nervousness.

This was the first time a boy had shown interest in her enough to ask her out on a date and Elsa had absolutely no idea what to make of it. She stood there for the longest time, briefly forgetting that she had to text him her address.

Her fingers clumsily tapped away at the clear screen before hitting ‘send.’ She tried to get herself to relax, since he did say that it would be nothing more than a simple outing.

Elsa set her phone back down on her study desk with a heavy sigh. In her mind, she kept repeating to herself that it wasn’t a _real_ date. It was just an outing - with someone that _clearly_ took a huge liking to her.

Then she began to wonder just what Jack would say about this. This was the first time she actually went out with someone other than Anna or him. Jack was her bodyguard, so he should shadow her while she’s out with Edwin, but at the same time Elsa wasn’t sure if she’d be okay with that.

While it wasn’t clear if he liked her, Elsa knew that a part of her liked him and it would be all kinds of awkward if he were to follow her and Edwin around next Saturday.

As she began stressing out about the situation, she caught some movement in the corner of her eye. They strayed over to the large window in her study and she saw no one other than Jack, who had seemingly wandered out to the snow-covered courtyard during her brief phone conversation with Edwin. She wrinkled her brow at the sight of him speaking as if he was talking to someone, before taking a seat on one of the stone benches.

Curious and perplexed as to what he was doing, Elsa watched him for a few more minutes before deciding to join him in the frigidly cold courtyard. Perhaps she could try to use this moment to tell him about her plans with Edwin on Saturday.

 

* * *

 

The minute he left Elsa’s study, Jack felt immensely agitated at himself. In his intense, emotional rush, he loosened his tie and popped open the second button on his shirt as he briskly walked down the hallway. He saw how disappointed she looked when he told her that she was simply a good person.

“Idiot, idiot…” he muttered under his breath as he quickly ran his fingers through his light colored hair.

Jack was well aware that Elsa was attracted towards him since a few years before. He wasn’t stupid or oblivious, especially when it came to matters concerning her. The glances she stole of him every so often, the way she’d stammer and blush whenever he said something endearing to her - they were all clear signs that she had an interest in him.

And he knew that he carried romantic feelings for her as well, but he continued to push her away.

Deciding that he needed some fresh air, Jack went for the central courtyard. He opened the double doors leading out to the cozy little outdoor space and took in one large inhale of the chilly winter air. It was very much welcomed by the young man as he stepped outside. The snow crunched underneath the soles of his black oxfords as he made his way towards the center fountain.

Now devoid of all water because it was winter, Jack stood by the impressive stone structure and stared at figures of mermaids sculpted on it. Eventually he felt out a heavy sigh and dropped his gaze to the snow covered ground.

“As if hinting to her that you’re only friends will do _anything_ ,” he told himself as he carelessly tossed his blazer on the bench beside him. A cloud of vapor rushed out from his mouth as he sighed once more. His tousled white bangs tickled his eyelashes as he hung his head low.

He felt hopelessness in their relationship. They both liked each other romantically, but Jack knew that their relationship would be fruitless in the end.

And Elsa deserved better.

As if on cue, he heard the double doors to the courtyard opening up and it came to him as no surprise when he saw the young heiress standing there.

“Elsa,” he breathed out as she slowly approached him.

“Hey,” she greeted him as she held her arm nervously. Even though they had spoken to each other just a while ago, it was still nerve-wracking since Elsa knew that she had to tell Jack about Edwin.

Jack scooted over on the stone bench so that she could sit beside him. “That phone call was quick,” he commented, eliciting a sheepish laugh from her.

“It wasn’t that important,” she lied, playing with one of the tassels on her teal sweat jacket.

He raised an eyebrow at her. “If you say so, Ice Queen.”

She shot him a slanted glare out of irritation, to which Jack responded with a low chuckle. Elsa said nothing else to him, unsure of how to even start off the conversation from where they had awkwardly left off earlier. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him languidly drag his heel across the ground in front of them several times before finally speaking.

“The Anna situation isn’t still bothering you, is it?”

Elsa shook her head, but stopped halfway. “Well...maybe a little,” she confessed, “but what you said to me earlier was helpful.” She smiled ardently at him in an attempt to mask the disappoint she still prominently held towards him from their previous conversation.

Jack sensed this and quickly averted his eyes away from her. He clenched his fists slightly, knowing that he had to say something to her about earlier.

In complete unison, the two spoke over each other.

“I -!” they both exclaimed, before blushing brightly at their own mistake. They stammered afterwards, embarrassed as they allowed each other to go first.

“I’m...sorry if what I said is bothering you,” Jack apologized first.

The young woman widened her eyes slightly and told him, “it’s not bothering me.”

He gave her an incredulous smirk. “Come on, you gotta admit that it was a complete let-down. Even I think so.”

She averted her gaze away from him. Elsa didn’t want to admit it outloud, but it was true. She was disappointed with what he said and she was a bit grateful that Jack had an uncanny ability to read her mind.

Jack sighed as he crossed his legs over one another by resting his ankle on his knee. He rested his arms upon them and waited before speaking once more. “Sorry,” he repeated, “‘good’ is a huge understatement for someone like yourself.”

She waited, silently listening to him with a great amount of patience to hear the words that she so greatly craved. Jack was good at reading what she felt and what she was thinking. Surely he would say the right words.

“You’re...special to me,” Jack said as he uncrossed his legs. “And not just because we’re friends or because we’re bodyguard and mistress.”

Elsa continued waiting - waiting for him to say what she wanted to truly hear from him. She nervously twiddled her thumbs against each other in her lap. “Then what else do you regard us as?” she gently asked.

He sighed distantly, holding his head up as he kept his gaze steadily forward.

She could see the smooth lump of his Adam’s apple quivering as he seemed to falter upon his speech several times before finally speaking.

“You’re just...special.”

“... _Oh_.”

Hearing the crestfallen tone in her voice, Jack quickly elaborated, “it’s hard to explain, but I do care about you a lot.”

Adrift, even with his explanation, Elsa wrinkled her brow and pouted her small lips.

He leaned forward slightly, trying to get a better look at her face, which was turned towards the ground. At her unresponsiveness, he added on, “that is to say...you _are important_ to me, Elsa. I can’t imagine my life without you.”

She peered over at him from the corner of her eyes. There was a swirl of emotions that slowly overtook her. How could he say such words to her when Elsa thought that her feelings towards him were very much obvious? He couldn’t be that oblivious, not when he has shown in the past that he was astute and capable of deducing all of her other emotions.

The only explanation that became apparent to her was a very simple one.

Jack just simply was not interested in her and he was doing his best to let her down easy without hurting her feelings. Despite knowing his intentions, it still hurt regardless.

A throbbing pain emitted from her chest and slowly spread throughout her body. She tried to force the sinking feeling down by swallowing the rough lump that had formed at the base of her throat, but it was futile. All of the confusion, the disappointment, the bleeding rejection she felt, came flooding out of her in the form of hot tears.

At the unsettling silence, Jack furrowed his brow and cautiously called out her name, “Elsa…-?” He stopped when he heard her stifled cries. “Elsa,” he said in growing concern as he reached out to touch her shivering shoulders.

“S - Sorry,” she quickly apologized, trying her best to swallow her tears. Elsa sniffled, raising her delicate hands up to her damp eyes. “You’re...my important person too,” she said with much difficulty.

“Elsa, why are you crying - ?”

“Don’t worry!” Her head shot up and she feigned the worst smile in front of him. “I’m just crying because...I’m...happy!” She let out a forced laugh, which came out sounding more like a choked cry.

Jack wasn’t convinced and neither was she. He attempted to reach out to her, to touch her upon the shoulder, only to draw back as she sharply stood up from the bench.

“Elsa?” he stammered, taken-aback by the young woman’s erratic behavior. “...If I said something wrong -” He was rendered speechless when he saw Elsa take off back into the house. From a spark of desperation, he picked up his feet to run after her, only to stop himself after taking one step forward.

His outstretched arm slowly dropped to his side weakly. It felt pointless to chase after her when she was in such a volatile state. Jack wanted to comfort her. He _wanted_ that more than anything because the one thing that pained him the most was knowing that he made Elsa _cry._

But he knew that comforting her was impossible at this point.

Because he knew that no matter what he said or did would make her upset.

Defeatedly, he plopped himself back down on the bench. He let out a low groan, fueled by an exasperated frustration, as he ran his hand through his white locks. Jack hung his head and bleakly stared down at the blanket of white snow beneath his feet.

A soft wind stirred and subconsciously, Jack shivered, suddenly feeling bitterly cold. He gently picked up his discarded blazer and held it in his cold hands. His grip tightened around the soft fabric.

“Why did you fall in love with me of all people…?”


	7. Love and Guilt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to those that leave me comments! I really enjoy the feedback and the kind words ! And as always, thanks for being patient with me for these chapters.

She felt mortified by what happened between her and Jack, to say the very least. Ever since she ran out on him in the courtyard a few days ago, she couldn’t bring herself to face him. Purposely, she would ignore him by locking herself in her study. She requested to the maids to have all of her meals brought up to her study so that she could eat in there and not have to endure an awkward moment with Jack at the dining table. When he was normally the one that would drop her off at the university for her classes, Elsa strongly suggested that Simon drove her instead.

She made up excuse after excuse, just to avoid the bodyguard, but that wasn’t going to last long and she knew it. Saturday was creeping up faster than she had anticipated and Elsa was well aware that she had to tell Jack of it sooner or later. The main problem still remained, however. Was she going to construct another lie to avoid him or tell him the truth about Saturday?

“...Mistress? Are you okay? You seem ill.” Wendy commented as she set down the silver tray on top of the large oak desk. She stared at the young woman in concern. “I know you’ve been bogged down by all your studies for the past week, but perhaps you should take a break?”

Elsa let out a slight laugh as she pulled the tray carrying her simple lunch closer to herself. “I’m fine, Wendy. Getting a Master’s degree isn’t easy, after all.”

“Of course,” the elderly maid chortled behind a neat hand over her thin lips. “No rest for the weary, but there’s no harm in rewarding yourself periodically.”

The blond simply smiled in response as she brought a cup of hot earl grey tea to her lips.

“The weather has been absolutely splendid for the past few days. Perhaps you could accompany Jack later? I’ve asked him if he could make a quick run to the market to pick up some ingredients for tonight’s dinner.”

Elsa stilled at the very mention of Jack’s name. The edge of the cup rested upon her bottom lip before she slowly pulled it away. Wendy took immediate notice of this.

“I’m sorry, Mistress! I certainly don’t mean any sort of disrespect by sending you out on an errand! I was just...suggesting that you could get some fresh air along with Jack since you two seem to enjoy each other’s company greatly and he seemed very stressed the past few days as well -”

“ - It’s fine...Wendy,” she muttered. “I know you didn’t mean any disrespect.” Elsa dismissively set the cup back down upon the tray and moved it away from her. “I’m sorry, could you take this back? I’m...actually not hungry.”

“Of course.”

Elsa let out an inaudible sigh as soon as Wendy turned to leave. She gently closed her eyes shut, feeling a slight pressure in her head building up from the stress. Perhaps she should take Wendy’s advice and step outside later. A breath of fresh air might soothe her nerves.

“Oh! Jack!”

Wendy’s exclamation quickly drew Elsa’s attention. The young woman’s eyes shot open and her head snapped up. Every single fiber of her being froze at the sight of Jack standing at the doorway, his blue eyes locked onto her heatedly. Anxiety began shooting through her body like lightning.

The silver haired man tore his gaze away from her to speak to Wendy. “I’m sorry, but I need to have a word with Elsa.”

“O - Of course,” the maid stammered nervously, quickly catching onto the general mood that Jack was exuding. She darted her eyes back towards Elsa, then back at the bodyguard before quickly dismissing herself from the premise.

As soon as the maid walked out, Jack stepped in, and shut the door behind him with a soft click.

The sound triggered a spark within Elsa and she quickly shot up from her plush leather seat. She grabbed her phone and walked away from her desk in one swift motion. Her heart pounded as she desperately tried to avoid eye contact with Jack as she made a straight beeline towards him and the door.

However, he stopped her by blocking the way with his arm.

Elsa flinched at the loud sound the flat of his palm made when it slammed into the wall beside her. She drew back timidly, frightened by the confrontation. However, even with terror gripping her throat, Elsa managed to speak. “L - Let me through, Jack -”

“ - Not until you tell me what’s going on,” he said, unintentionally letting his baritone voice drop to a low growl. He kept the tension on his face until he realized that all he was doing was scaring her. In an attempt to let go of the frustration he held towards her, he sighed and downcast his eyes to the dark hardwood floors. “You’ve been avoiding me -”

“ - No, I haven’t -”

“ - _Yes._ You have.” Jack balled his hands up into fists at her growing silence. “All you’ve been doing is making up excuses to not see me. You even asked Simon to drive you to school now.”

“That was…” Elsa defensively held her small fists to her chest in an attempt to create a barrier between them. “...I thought I was inconveniencing you since you always drive me -”

“Don’t give me that _crap_ ,” he shot back, wishing that he would have avoided using such harsh language against her, but finding that he had he had very little restraint left in regards to his mounting anger. “You can’t just write these things off as just a mere coincidence when it happened right after you ran out on me the other day.”

Elsa took a step backwards to distance herself, only to be trapped up against the wall by him. She let out a soft sound at the low thump beside her as Jack kept both his arms on either side of her head. Her heart beat mercilessly against her chest out of nervousness and fear. Confrontations never bode well with her - her confrontation with Anna being a prime example. The last thing Elsa wanted to do was to go through the same thing with Jack.

“Like I’ve said before Elsa, if I said something wrong then tell me because I _frankly_ don’t know,” Jack said, stressing each syllable as a clear indication of his irritation. He stared long and hard at the top of her head as she continued to avoid eye contact with him. He finally relinquished a loud, breathy sigh and scratched his nails against the wall. “You can’t keep shutting me out like this,” he muttered lowly. “I want to straighten this out - whatever this is. The last thing I want is a relationship where we’re strictly bodyguard and mistress.”

Elsa pursed her lips tightly together.

“... _Friends_ are supposed to tell each other everything.”

The word stung like a dagger that had freshly plunged into her heart. _‘Friend’_ \- Elsa hated the mere sound of it, especially when it was being used in reference to her and Jack.

“...You’re so stupid, Jack,” she whispered, her voice trembling slightly.

He knitted his eyebrows together, wary and unsettled by what she said to him. Sure, she had called him _‘stupid’_ plenty of times in the past, but the context of this one was different.

She raised her head to look up at him and immediately Jack caught sight of a simmering anger within her usually cool blue eyes. It was unlike her, but it was expected given the situation. He could practically feel the rising tension between them and he’d be a fool to simply ignore it.

“How long are you going to pretend that you don’t know?” Elsa slowly started out, keeping her eyes trained on him to make sure that she didn’t miss any of his body language.

He didn’t show any outward signs, but he asked, “what are you talking about -?”

“ - If you don’t like me, then just say it!” Her eyes glistened with tears.

Jack quietly let his hands fall from the walls and brought them back to his sides. He feigned obliviousness, only as futile attempt to dodge the bullets she was firing at him, but he knew exactly what she was talking about. “Elsa, I’m not sure what you’re getting at,” he said, only to feel the first metaphoric bullet hit him in the chest when he heard what she had to say next.

“I’d rather you just outright reject me than lead me on like this!” Elsa hiccuped, trying to suppress her sobs. She desperately tried to wipe away her tears before they cascaded down her cheeks uncontrollably. “...Every single time...you say things that make me fall more in love with you, but at the same time, you tell me that we’re only friends or that you’re my bodyguard. I can’t tell what the truth is anymore, Jack. ...I can’t,” she wept softly.

He said nothing to her, his own voice swallowed up by his guilt. She could see right through him and he suddenly felt like a fool to even entertain the idea that she wouldn’t catch on.

“What you say and what you do don’t add up and I’m just...tired...of trying to figure you out,” she said in-between interrupted breaths.

Jack reached out to touch her, but widened his eyes when she pushed his arm away with one smooth motion. “Elsa…” he said in a wispy tone. Jack felt as if he was riddled with those imaginary bullet holes at this point. “It’s...going to sound cliched, but it’s just complicated.”

“ _‘Just complicated,’_ ” Elsa repeated with a wry laugh. Her eyeliner smudged on the back of her hand and she knew that she was probably a horrid sight right now, but that was the least of her concerns. “ _So_ complicated that you were willing to lead me on and play with my heart?”

“That was never my intention,” Jack argued, desperately trying to fix the relationship between them. “You know that I’ll never purposely hurt you, Ice Queen -”

“ - _Stop_. Stop calling me that,” she hissed at him, stifling back tears with her hands clapped over her mouth and nose. Elsa sank back against the beige colored walls and wept silently. “Everything’s just a game to you, Jack - _a joke._ It _always_ has been.”

His heart ached at the invalidation of his own feelings towards her. “I would never...never joke about something like that, Elsa.” His glacier blue eyes fell as he swallowed down the large lump in his throat. “...What can I do to make you believe me?”

Sniffling, she shook her head, giving off the impression that Jack’s words fell on deaf ears. “Nothing,” she answered in a broken voice. Without saying anything else, she moved to walk away, only to have Jack hold her back by grabbing her lithe wrist. Elsa drew in a sharp breath, struggling to keep the balance in her wavering voice as she turned back to face him.

He could practically hear the bits and pieces of his heart cracking in the deep orifices of his ears at the very sight of Elsa’s pure blue eyes swimming with clear tears. The look of complete betrayal and hurt she gave him caused his arm to slacken.

“...Please,” she pleaded. “You can’t fix us this time, Jack…”

Jack felt her slip out of his hand and he watched as she left the study. The rotten feeling he felt previously had amplified tenfold and petrified every last fiber within his being. He simply stood there for the longest time, wondering where he had gone wrong.

A distant, dry chuckle escaped past his pale lips - an act of mockery towards himself because he knew the answer very well and he felt like a fool for even wasting a second pondering it.

“She’s right...you _are_ stupid, Frost,” he muttered with a mirthless smirk. “Your first mistake was letting your feelings for her get in the way.” Jack dropped his head and let out a trembling sigh. “ _That_ …” he paused briefly, “was your first mistake.”

 

* * *

 

Elsa was distracted and she knew that it was obvious, so it came to her as no surprise when Edwin made a comment on it as they were dining together.

“Something on your mind?” he asked in innocent curiosity as he left his filet mignon halfway cut with his steak knife.

She quickly feigned a smile and shook her head. “N - No, it’s nothing important. I’m just a little tired, that’s all. Sorry,” she sheepishly apologized as she returned her attention back to the meal before her.

Edwin tilted his head slightly. “If you’re tired, we don’t have to go see the musical tonight.”

“No,” she insisted, “you already paid for them. I couldn’t.”

He chuckled, waving his hand dismissively. “I can exchange them for other tickets...or perhaps reschedule for another time,” he suggested gently, giving off implications that he would like to go out on another date with the young woman.

Elsa quickly caught on and she immediately blushed softly at him. “We - Well then,” she stammered, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. “I’m free again next Saturday.”

The brunette’s face instantly lit up at her agreeing to another date. “That sounds great!” he exclaimed, only to draw back immediately the very next minute with a shy laugh. “Sorry, it must sound lame to be so excited for another date when this one isn’t even over.”

Elsa laughed into her hand gently. “Don’t be! I’m flattered,” she told him with a smile. “No one’s ever taken this much interest in me...in all honesty.” She felt a bit embarrassed to admit it out loud, but she was slowly warming up to Edwin and felt like he could be someone that could be trusted.

He was kind, shy, and considerate from what she knew of him so far, despite coming from a wealthy family. It was refreshing change from what Elsa had been exposed to so far in the rest of “high society.” Everyone else was either in it for themselves or for each other’s money, and Elsa wanted no part in something like that. She wanted a true, genuine relationship and maybe Edwin could provide her with one.

She nervously wrung her hands together in her lap underneath the table, suddenly thinking about Jack. They hadn’t spoken a word to each other the entire week, aside from their heated confrontation in her study a few days ago. Elsa wasn’t sure what to do with him at this point. She definitely didn’t want him out of her life for good, so firing him was out of the question, but it hurt to see him because it reminded her of the unreciprocated feelings towards him.

Remaining strictly on a friendship basis with him was going to be extremely bittersweet, but Elsa knew that she could get rid of the pain if she got rid of her feelings towards him. It was going to be hard, but perhaps if she focused on her budding relationship with Edwin, the process would be a lot easier.

Anything or anyone to take her mind off of Jack.

“I’m still a bit shocked,” Edwin commented as he finished up his dinner. He blushed a little as he spoke. “You’re...absolutely stunning, Elsa. I’m honestly still in disbelief that a woman like you is even sitting across from me right now and I’m talking to you.”

“How is that unbelieveable?” she asked, giggling into her hand. “You must have dated plenty of other girls before me.”

“Yes,” he admitted in blunt transparency, “but none of them were as beautiful as you.”

The compliments caused a solid red color to remain upon her pale cheeks. Edwin certainly had a way with words and Elsa found herself falling for each and every sappy one. “Thank you,” she managed to tell him without her voice cracking from embarrassment. Elsa shyly avoided his gaze for a while, suddenly feeling bashfully awkward in front of him.

Edwin noticed her fidgety behavior and looked to her with an amused smile. “Do you not take compliments well?”

“Ah, well -”

He leaned back against his seat and chuckled into a loose fist. “Beautiful and modest,” he commented, bringing about another red bloom upon Elsa’s delicate face.

A waiter approached their table before Edwin could say anything else. “Is there anything else you require this evening?” he asked in formal professionalism.

“May I have the bill please?”

“Certainly.”

The bill arrived and was quickly sent off along with the young man’s credit card soon after. A floundering Elsa stared at Edwin with uncertainty, to which he answered with a simple wave of his hand. “I thought we were paying dutch.”

Edwin flashed her a charming smile. “I decided against it, if you don’t mind. It’s not very gentlemanly to make his date pay for her meal after all.”

 

* * *

 

A set of ice blue eyes darted over to a nearby wall clock every few seconds, despite knowing that in doing so wouldn’t make a certain heiress return home sooner. Needless to say, the young woman in question was grating on Jack’s last nerves. Not only did she fail to tell him of her outing tonight, she never bothered to alert Anna of it or anyone else for that matter. Jack had no idea where she went or who she went out with.

And as a bodyguard tasked to protect her, this situation was nothing short of worrisome to him.

Jack took out his phone and attempted to call Elsa again - for the tenth time in the last fifteen minutes. However, before he could dial any numbers, he saw a pair of headlights coming up the half-circle driveway in front of the estate. Quickly, he rushed over to the windows overlooking the front lawn and saw an unknown car stopping just before the front doors. Jack couldn’t see who was in the front seat, but when he saw Elsa coming out from the passenger’s side, he clenched his fists and dashed outside.

As soon as he opened the front door, he was met face to face with Elsa, who was apparently in the middle of saying her ‘goodnights’ and ‘goodbyes’ with her date. She looked shocked and bewildered upon seeing him, most likely caught off-guard by his sudden appearance. “Jack,” she whispered, only to draw in a sharp breath that came out like a yelp when he took hold of her hand.

He only caught a glimpse of the man that had taken her out on a date, but Jack recognized him to be the one that had danced with Elsa while he was dancing with Toothiana. Despite seeing the young man’s brown eyes crossed with a light of concern and hearing Elsa’s shouts of protest, Jack ignored both of them and simply dragged the heiress back inside of the mansion.

“Jack!” Elsa yelled, clearly angry with him as he shut the door behind them. “What the hell? I couldn’t even say _‘bye’_ to him -!”

“ - _Where_ were you?” Jack harshly cut in. His eyes were set in a sharp glare towards the young woman, who matched it with an equally intense gaze. “You didn’t even tell me that you were planning to go out tonight!”

She crossed her arms over her chest and simply remained silent towards his question. However, the longer she averted her eyes away from him, the thicker the tension between them grew. Elsa did her best to ignore his heated glare and simply told him, “I’m going to bed.”

Jack stood there watching her retreating figure in complete shock before he clenched his fists and followed her upstairs. “Ignoring me isn’t going to get us anywhere, Elsa,” he said with an unbridled exasperation present in his voice. He heard nothing from her still as he closely followed her to her room. “Can you at least talk to me?”

Elsa felt her blood pressure rising when she got to her bedroom door and felt Jack’s presence behind her. She pursed her lips tightly together and spun around to face him. “Talk about what, Jack?” She practically spat out, earning her a slanted look of contempt from the silver haired bodyguard. Without waiting for an answer, she pushed open the door to her room and made an attempt to close it behind her, only to stopped by Jack.

He held the door open with one arm, his muscles tensing as she pushed against it. “You can’t keep shutting me out like this.”

The platinum blond gave him a look that resonated with deep irritation. “Go. _Away_. Jack,” she said, enunciating each word sharply.

He didn’t answer her verbally, but the determined look in his eyes and the frown he wore said plenty. Jack stuck his foot in the doorway and pushed open the door forcibly, causing Elsa to stumble back. He quickly took hold of her arm, preventing her from falling backwards and allowing him to get close to her.

She immediately cried out in anger. “Let go of me -!”

“ - _No_.” Jack responded firmly. The way his voice dropped caused Elsa to grow still. “Not until we work this out.”

Elsa narrowed her eyes at him. “There’s nothing to work out between us, Jack. I’ve accepted the fact that we won’t be anything more than friends.” There was a clear image of hurt flashing in her eyes as she averted them to the floor, revealing her lie.

“And do you think lying to yourself is going to make you feel better? To get over this? Have you even stopped to consider how I must feel over this entire thing?”

She hadn’t, but Elsa refused to admit verbally. She faltered, a crack developing in her thin voice, and remained quiet at his barrage of questions. She stubbornly crossed her arms over her chest and avoided meeting his eyes.

Seeing as how she wasn’t up to answer any of his questions, Jack dropped his hands to his side and said to her in the calmest way possible, “I’m your bodyguard, Elsa, and you can’t just run out wherever you please without telling me.”

Irately, Elsa snapped back. “I can because you’re not the boss of me.” It was an immature answer, which she was very much aware of, but she was angry with him and had very little tolerance left towards him. The fact that he was completely ignoring the main issue simmering between them, but at the same time, telling her that she was the one avoiding the issue was enough to rile up the usually unemotional young woman.

Jack rolled his eyes at her comeback. “As true as that statement is,” he unwillingly admitted, “you still can’t just go out with some random guy you just met at the gala and not tell me about it. You don’t know anything about him.”

Elsa wrinkled her brow at the familiarity she felt with his words. Those were the exact same words she said to Anna about Hans. Stubbornly refusing to admit to herself that she was a hypocrite, she sharply turned away from him and scoffed, “ _whatever_. Just leave, Jack. It’s none of your concern on who I choose to go out with.”

He clenched his fists in frustration. “Actually, it _is_ my concern. I’m your bodyguard and I’m supposed to be protecting you.”

“I don’t need protection.”

“ _You don’t need protection_ ,” he repeated slowly and in a monotonous manner. Jack kept his eyes fixated on the back of the young woman’s head. “What you’re telling me is that even if he attacked or assaulted you, you would have been able to protect yourself?”

Elsa turned back around to face him as she shouted, “Edwin would never do that -!” She stopped when she felt a strong grip capture both of her wrists. Everything else that preceded it happened so fast that she found herself being thrown back onto her bed with Jack on top of her, pinning her down. Her blue eyes widened from the shock. “Let me go!” she shouted at him in mounting anger.

“To refer to him so languidly and to speak as if you know everything about him,” Jack laughed mirthlessly, which came out sounding more like a drawn out scoff. “Yeah, you definitely know everything about him, Ice Queen.”

His sarcastic remark was just about the last straw. Elsa grit her teeth and mustered up all the strength that she could to fight him off, but with little avail.

Jack effortlessly kept her pinned beneath him and he asked her, “didn’t you say that you could fight him off if he had attacked you?”

“I can!” She stubbornly argued.

“No, you can’t,” Jack enunciated. “You can’t even fight me off. What makes you think you can fight off a guy that’s serious about assaulting you?”

“Edwin would never hurt me,” she fired back hotly.

In response, Jack laughed sarcastically and shook his head. “And you know this how? You barely even knew the guy for a good week.”

Elsa grit her teeth and eventually relinquished the strength in her arms with a loud huff. She sharply turned her head away from him. “And what makes you think that you know him?”

A dry scoff and an eye roll later, the silver haired young man pushed himself off of her. Under his breath, he muttered, “you should hear yourself right now.”

Her eyebrows furrowed as she gave him a scrutinizing glare. “Excuse me?” she asked incredulously.

Jack narrowed his eyes at her, his gaze lingering on her for a brief second longer, and turned away without saying a word.

The action ignited her fiery temper. Elsa shot up from the bed and took hold of his arm. Her gaze was piercingly cold, enough to freeze anyone to the spot, anyone except Jack, who matched her gaze with his own icy glare. “What the hell are you trying to say?” she enunciated with a voice so sharp that it could rival an assassin’s dagger.

“You left me no other choice,” Jack answered with a hint of exasperation in his low voice. “You’re not willing to listen to me and...you’re insensible right now.”

“ _I’m_ insensible?” The platinum blond scoffed loudly. “You’re kidding, right? You’re being so uptight about this for no reason! How’s _that_ for insensible?”

Jack’s clenched fists shook by his side as he tried to control his own temper. “No reason? Elsa, you left the house without telling anyone where you were going. Seriously, what the hell’s gotten into you?”

Sourly, Elsa crossed her arms over her chest and glared down at her lap. There was no way that she could tell him that she was still upset over what had happened between them. It would seem petty, but she couldn’t help it. The confusion combined with her anger and frustration pushed her to her tipping point.

In one final, spiteful move, she muttered venomously under her breath, “at least Edwin’s straightforward with his feelings.. _.at least_ he hasn’t hurt me, _unlike_ you.”

Jack grew still upon hearing those words. It was as if an icy spell bound him and the chill numbed him to his core. The tension in his hands were released as was his anger towards her. It hurt him greatly, hearing from Elsa’s own mouth that she would much rather trust a complete stranger than him, someone she had known for such a large portion of her life. His gaze dropped somberly and the entire room was submerged in a thick silence.

Elsa carefully peered up at him, wondering if he was still upset, only to find out in shock that he had a defeated smile upon his sullen face. She stared at him until their eyes met. Her heart instantly sank. “Jack - I -”

“ - You’re right,” he said with a forced sigh. A wry chuckle escaped him. “I _have_ hurt you, haven’t I?”

The feeling of guilt settled in Elsa’s gut. She tightly held her hands over her chest, unsure of what to say and frightened by the foreign mood Jack had set between them. When she saw him turning to leave, Elsa attempted to call out for him, hoping to make amends, but all that came out was a pitiful squeak.

Jack stopped regardless and took one last look back at her. “I’m sorry, Ice Queen.” He flashed her a dull smile with the usual sparkle of happiness sucked dry from his eyes. It drove a knife through her heart at the mere sight of him in such a heartbroken state.

“Jack…” she whispered with a quivering voice. Tears stung at her eyes and the picture before her blurred. She could no longer see him clearly.

He held back the urge to do or say anything else when he saw her starting to cry. Jack wasn’t sure what to do anymore, afraid that he would do more harm than good at this point. Very unwillingly, he tore his gaze off of her and strode out of the room before a swell of emotions could overtake him.

Once the door shut, leaving Elsa all alone in her spacious bedroom, she brought her hands up to her eyes and wept. She was never one to cry loudly, so she sniffled and hiccupped, wiping away her tears before they could fall to her lap. Her breath came out in stunted, short gasps as she forced herself to find some composure.

Elsa could only describe herself as pathetic. Indeed, Jack was the one that created the wound, but she was the one that rubbed the salt into it. She made a bad situation worse by using another man in hopes of forgetting about her feelings for Jack. She broke her own code of conduct by doing the exact same thing she scolded her little sister for. It was pathetic, truly pathetic.

And Jack had every right to be angry with her, but when she saw that he wasn’t...that was what broke her the most.

She had hurt one of the people she held dear to her heart in one of the worst possible ways and to hear the word ‘sorry’ being uttered him was something she could never forget.


End file.
